Secret Love
by maja3322
Summary: The war is over and all the young heroes return to Hogwarts. All is as it was before except for one thing; Draco Malfoy is no longer a snake when it comes to Hermione Granger. Can Hermione accept the change and the person?
1. A New Kind of Jealousy

**A New Kind of Jealousy**

There she was again, walking down the halls with Potter and Weasley on either side of her. Draco felt a muscle in his jaw twitch, when a sudden jealousy hit him. He had never before been jealous of neither Potter nor Weasley, but during the last month, these jealousy fits had been happening more increasingly. There was only one way, he could make himself feel a little better. But he very well knew that the better feeling would only last for a minute, and then the despair would return, with even more force than it had before. He sighed, but eventually gave into the urge. Besides, it had been far too long, since he had last offended Granger's friends, and if he didn't do anything soon, people would start to whisper about him, and he really hated that.

"Has anyone ever told you Weasley," he started to say loudly "that with a little, red dress, you could make a good Ginger Spice?"

Instantly the trio walking in front of him stopped dead and turned to face him as one. Weasley's face was as red as his hair, but Draco wasn't looking at him. Instead, he was staring intently at Hermione Granger, the Mudblood he had hated for years. Her cheeks very rosy, the chocolate brown eyes very blazing with fury and her hair was as out of control as ever. With a smirk, he returned his attention to Weasley.

"I'm just saying," he continued "if you wanted to start a career in the entertainment business, since you won't be able to make any positive attributions to the Wizarding World, you could start you own Spice Band. Yeah, and Potter could join you as Posh Spice. You could be Transgender Spice!"

At that last comment, Crabbe and Goyle started laughing loudly. Normally, their laughs would have encouraged him to say something more, but now they were nothing more than irritating.

He saw Potter reaching for his wand, but noticed how Hermione placed a slender hand on Potter's, holding him back.

'_Why isn't it my hand she is touching?' _a treacherous voice inside his head said. He cleared his head for thoughts of hands touching and just looked Granger in her eyes.

"How is it that you know a Muggle band?" Granger asked him, her tone sweet and innocent but with an undertone of pure evil. He smirked, liking what he heard. "Perhaps because you have been fantasizing about being Baby Spice?"

With that said, she grabbed Potter by the sleeve, turned around and started walking. But oh no, he wasn't going to let her have the last word.

"What am I hearing, Potter and Weasley?" he yelled at them as they proceeded to move away. "You let a woman stand up for you instead of doing anything yourselves? It's pathetic!"

He turned on his heel and marched away. When Crabbe and Goyle moved to follow him, he waved his hand at them and said, "Leave me." And as the dogs they were, they obeyed him without asking a single question.

He walked not knowing, and more importantly not caring, where his feet were leading him. He had his head full of Hermione Granger. Thoughts of her eyes, hair, lips cheeks. He sighed and stopped, looking around him to see, where he was at. A gently breezed hit his face and ruffled his hair slightly. He was standing in front of the Black Lake with his back to the castle doors. He sighed once again and sat down with his hands in his head. And then the guilt hit him.

The pleasure of tormenting Potter and Weasley had been over more quickly than any time before. Perhaps because it wasn't any of them who had answered him but the very person, who made him so miserable all the time. And to top it all off, she also ruined the only fun he ever had, by making him feel guilty about it. Nothing in his life seemed to be simple any longer. And to think, it all started with a potions class. He smiled a slight sarcastic smile when he remembered the day, where he had finally noticed Hermione Granger for what she really were; beautiful, desirable and way out of his reach.

Slughorn had planned a lazy day for them, only note taking. Draco didn't trust in notes, they had the tendency to disappear so he just relied on his memory. But when Slughorn started teaching, he suddenly noticed something that distracted him. Hermione Granger was sitting at a desk in the row in front of him and he had a perfect view of her. Normally he wouldn't notice such a thing, but something was different this time.

Hermione was sitting alone looking dreamily into space. Potter and Weasley were sitting deep in conversation but neither Draco nor Hermione paid any attention to them. She had a little smile on her lips, just a slight one, but the way her eyes were sparkling with whatever fantasy she had, Draco couldn't help staring at her. For the first time ever, he really saw her. He didn't see Mudblood, best-friend-of-Potter-and-Weasley or bossy know-it-all. He saw Hermione, a charming and beautiful witch with gorgeous features, he had never before realized. Everything about her, from her frizzy hair to her slender fingers, to her long legs was suddenly screaming at him. There was no way of ignoring the sudden feelings stirring inside of him.

Then Potter had suddenly remembered about her, leaned over to her and tapped her on the shoulder. Draco saw her confusion when she was dragged out of her daydream. She blushed, looked down and smiled a little apologetic. The blush on her pale cheeks was suddenly very endearing, Draco caught himself thinking. And her little, hesitant giggle when Potter made a joke he couldn't hear, made him smile, not the usual smile meant to irritate or torment, but genuine smile of pleasure.

But what was happening to him? He was having boyish fantasies about the Mudblood he had made a living of annoying! He shook his head trying to free himself of this new picture of Hermione he had suddenly and against his will, gotten. It was impossible though, the picture was stuck in the back of his mind, and he caught himself looking at her several times during the rest of the class.

After class he had done everything to prove to himself that nothing had changed in the saw he saw her. No matter how cute and beautiful she had suddenly gotten, she was still and annoying, dirty Mudblood who he hated. He tried to insult her, saying something stupid and immature about her hair, but when he saw the hurt in her eyes, he instantly regretted his actions.

Well, it had been a month now. He still hadn't had any luck convincing himself that he had no more feelings for Granger than a Flobberworm had for anything that wasn't lettuce.


	2. What To Do Next

**What To Do Next**

He didn't leave his spot near the Black Lake before he felt his stomach roar with hunger. The weather had been nice, since it was late spring, and his thoughts had been consuming him, therefore he hadn't even noticed how long he had been sitting there. He had even skipped his last two classes even though he had had no intentions in that direction. Time had simply passed on without him. He glanced at his watch, his 17th birthday present from his parents. They would be serving dinner in the Great Hall shortly. He decided to go to the Hall and wait for that moment to occur.

When he entered the Great Hall his eyes searched the Gryffindor table, quite without his consent, looking for the Granger girl. His heart became heavy, when he didn't find her. She hadn't arrived yet. With his head ducked he went to sit next to Blaise Zabini. Blaise shot one glance at him and then groaned loudly.

"Not again," he moaned and shook his head.

Draco didn't respond. This wasn't the first time during the last month Blaise had been disappointed with him.

"Whoever she is, would you just go after her and get it over with?" Blaise hissed, causing Draco's head to snap up and his eyes to seek Blaise's. This was the first time, he had mentioned a girl. Draco couldn't help panicking a little, but managed to hide it with his trusted smirk, the smile that said everything and nothing.

"What are you talking about, Zabini?" he said, still smirking.

"I am talking about the girl that has you looking at your feet all the time!" he said.

Instead of answering, Draco decided to just play dumb.

"Don't think I haven't noticed," Blaise continued. "You haven't really been yourself lately. You sigh and moan all the time, you never really make fun of anyone anymore, and you always look defeated."

Draco shook his head.

"Oh yes, my friend, I have noticed! Now, would you just do something about it?!"

"It's not that simple," Draco said and turned to the food that had appeared in front of him.

"How can it not be 'that simple'?" Blaise asked more annoyed than astonished. "You are Draco Malfoy."

"That's the problem," Draco replied determined to not reveal anything else about his unhealthy crush.

"Well," Blaise started with a slick smile "if she doesn't want anything to do with you, why don't you just seduce her, shag her and get it over with?"

Draco sighed, shook his head once again but continued eating without another word. Blaise realized that talking sense into his friend was a waste of time, and turned away from him to talk to Pansy instead.

'_Good enough for me,'_ Draco thought _'that get's both Zabini and Pansy of my back. For time being.'_

Now his only problem remained: what to do about Granger?


	3. A New Draco

**A New Draco**

The Slytherin common room was dark, but Draco didn't go to sleep. He was the only one still up, a fact that didn't bother him at all. He enjoyed being alone. He enjoyed not having all of those mongrels at his tail all the time. The only person he really, truly wanted to be with, wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.

He had been up all night, trying to figure out, what to do with this infatuation in Hermione Granger. After hours of thinking, he had come to a decision. He had a feeling deep in his bones that a relationship with Granger would be the best thing that had ever happened to him. If only he could make her see who he really was.

He laughed at that last thought. _Who he really was?_ How could he make Hermione see that, when he didn't even know it himself. Was he only kidding himself, trying to tell himself that he was more than just insults and crude jokes? Could he possibly be worthy of Hermione Grangers love?

It was at that moment he decided that even if he wasn't that right now, it would be his goal to be a better person before it would be his goal to make Hermione his own.

The thought soothed him and he decided to go to sleep.

--..--::--..--

The next morning he found that being a new and better person was nowhere near as easy as it sounded. All of his 'friends' stared at him, when he had let the Weasley girl walk right past him without even saying a word to her. They all started asking him, if there was anything wrong with him. He couldn't very well say to them 'sorry guys, I've decided to drop this whole mean thing in order to win over Hermione Granger so I can make her my girlfriend'. No, that would disturb them even more than what just happened with Weasley. So his plans had to change, he realized. If he thought changing his personality would be hard, this was going to be even harder.

He would have to remain the same foul person as he had always been when he was with the other Slytherins, and only be the new improved Draco around Hermione. But the problem remained that he was hardly ever with Granger without his or her friends, meaning that she would only ever see the foul Draco. He would have to get her on her own, somehow.

Again, another thing that was tremendously hard to do. At breakfast he searched the Gryffindor table for her. When his eyes found her curly, brown hair he sighed and stared at her, ignoring the company around him and the food in front of him. She was sitting between Potter and Weasley with the Weasley girl in front of her. She was talking to Potter and laughing when the Weaslette suddenly leaned over the table and whispered something to her. Draco saw how her back tensed. Slowly she turned to return his stare, a look of misbelieve and confusion in her eyes. He tried to comfort her with a smile, but this only turned the confusion to anger and she turned her back to him again.

He had never before realized just how much she hated him, making the entire thing seem impossible. He clenched his fist as a sudden determination swept over him. He would be damned, if he didn't turn her around!

When Hermione suddenly rose from her seat and left the Hall alone, Draco did the same thing. He followed her outside, where they were alone.

"Granger," he called to her, making her stop. "Hermione," he added more softly. It was the first time he had called her by her name. She turned with angry eyes and shot him a nasty glance.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked, sounding slightly annoyed and indifferent.

"To talk," he said truthfully and stopped in front of her.

"Talk?" she asked astonished, her deep, brown eyes widening. "Talk? Okay, what about? My bloodline? My Muggle-parents? What?"

Her words hurt him more than he wanted to admit.

"No," he answered softly. "I want to apologize." He had already decided that if she was ever going to see the new Draco, he needed to apologize for being the old one. But it didn't work out as he had planned it.

"Apologize?" she almost spat out the word. "Let me tell you something, Draco Malfoy. I don't need your phony apologies! And better yet, I don't want them! So whatever you hoped to accomplish with this, consider it failed!"

She turned on her heal and walked with long, angry steps towards Hagrid's cottage.

"Granger," he called at her with desperation in his voice.

Without turning to face him she yelled back at him, "Leave me alone, Malfoy. I really don't want to have anything to do with you, your larger-than-life ego or your Pureblood pride."

He sighed deeply when realisation hit him. This was going to be the hardest thing he had ever done. But he was a Malfoy, and no matter how cruel they were believed to be, one thing about them could not be denied; Malfoys didn't give up!


	4. Not Giving Up But Going Down

**Not Giving Up**** But Going Down**

His first class of the day was Charms, one of the few classes he didn't share with the Gryffindors. But still all he could do was think about Hermione. He played the scene from earlier on over and over again in his mind. He saw her hair, her flaming eyes, and her sensual lips. Too soon the class was over, and he headed off to the next. Potions.

Now, Potions was a class he liked, and always had liked. Many thought he was only good at it, because Professor Snape had favoured him, but his standards hadn't fallen when Professor Slughorn arrived. But that wasn't the only reason he enjoyed the subject. He liked it now more than before, since this was the class where he discovered Hermione Granger's true self, and here he could always watch her.

When he entered the classroom he quickly saw that he was the only one present. He must have been walking faster than intended, consumed in thoughts of how to get Hermione on her own. He still had no solution. Sighing he sat down at a desk in the back of the room. Slowly the room started to fill up with talking people, but Draco noticed none of these. All he saw was Hermione Granger as she entered the room with her two moron friends.

When he first saw her, he felt his body tensing, his heart beating stronger and his breath quicken. He was surprised to see her scanning the room and lock her eyes on him. A desperate thought came to him; _'Has she accepted my apology?'_ but the thought disappeared as fast as it had come when she curled her upper lip in disgust and turned away. His heart sank deep into his stomach. No, she hadn't forgiven him. More likely, she had thought that him apologizing was just an act to get to her. He didn't hold it against her; if their roles had been reversed he would have thought the same thing. At that moment Slughorn entered and the class started. But Draco's thoughts were nowhere near Potions. They all revolved around Hermione.

Too soon the class was over and students were rushing to the Great Hall for lunch. Draco got to his feet and got ready to go, when he realized that Hermione was still in the room with Potter and Weasley. Without a sound, he walked to a dark corner and hid, not even knowing why. From his corner he could see and hear the three friends talking.

"Hermione, you have too many books," Potter said. Hermione's only reply was a shy smile and then she continued packing her bulging bag.

"Sure you don't want our help with that?" Weasley said with a raised eyebrow. Hermione shook her head, brown curls flowing around her angelic face.

"No, you guys," she answered. "Why don't you just go ahead and save me a seat for lunch?"

The guys exchanged a worried look.

"Sure?" Potter asked her.

"Boys, really just think about it," she said and Draco sensed the teaching tone "if you stay here with me, we won't get any lunch. But if you go ahead without me, you can save me a seat and we all get something."

Potter and Weasley didn't answer her; they just laughed and left her alone. For a few seconds Draco just watched her trying to fit all her books in her tiny bag. But then she dropped a book on her foot and started cursing aloud. The words coming out of her mouth were unlike anything Draco had ever thought she would be able to say. He couldn't help himself. He laughed at her, not the mocking laugh he would usually use but a sweet and tender laugh that startled the cursing girl. She spun around and when she saw him standing in the dark her eyes narrowed.

"I might have known," she said angrily and picked up the book before she returned to pack the bag once more.

Draco moved out of the shadows and went to stand besides her.

"You never accepted my apology," he said. As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew he had said the wrong words. He still sounded like the old, arrogant Malfoy.

"Why should I?" Hermione asked. "Even if you meant it, it would take much more for me to forgive you for all you've done to myself and my friends."

"I'm willing to do all those things," he said, noticing the plea in his voice, but he didn't care. He meant every word and he wanted her to believe him.

For the shortest moment he saw curiosity in her eyes, but before he could be sure of what he really saw, she was back to hating him.

"I only ask one thing of you," she said through clenched teeth. "Go to Hell."

Then she took her bag and began walking out the door. He couldn't let her leave on that note, not like that. He walked after her.

"Fine," he said "should I bring you a souvenir?"

She laughed, but not a humorous laugh, it was the mocking one he knew from himself.

"I'd rather if you just stayed in Hell," she answered. "That would be the best present."

She sped up, even though she didn't have to. Draco wasn't trying to follow her any longer. Her words had hit him like a goblin hits a thief**.** Suddenly his appetite had disappeared. It didn't take him many seconds to decide to drop lunch and possibly also the last classes of the day.

_Thanks to all who have made this story a favourite and myself a favourite author. Reviews are greatly appreciated, no matter what you would like to say about the story, my writing or the plot. Suggestions ar__e also appreciated, if you feel you can contribute with anything to make this story or my writing better._


	5. Obsession

**Obsession**

Draco didn't have lunch, he simply didn't want it. But he did want to see Hermione. He was more than aware, that his infatuation with her was beginning to be an obsession, but he wanted nothing more than to be with her. There was nothing else that could make him happy anymore. So he skipped lunch, but he went to Transfiguration, where the Slytherins were taught with the Gryffindors. There he could look at her, as much as he wanted, and perhaps he could even be alone with her as he was after Potions.

When he arrived at the classroom he decided to wait outside for Hermione to come. When she arrived, arm in arm with Potter, she shot him one, nasty glance and didn't look his way again. He followed them into the classroom and when they sat down, he sat behind them. Not long after Blaise joined Draco at his table.

"Draco," he said while he sat down. "What are you doing all the way up here? You usually sit in the other end of the class."

Draco didn't feel like answering, he just kept looking at Hermione's hair. When she laughed at something Potter had said, he winced and felt a pinch of jealousy, she should be laughing at _his_ jokes, not Potter's. Blaise noticed the wince and followed his gaze. As soon as he was Hermione, he groaned.

"Oh, Merlin…" he whispered to Draco. "Is that who you have been moaning over?! Granger?!" He sat out the name like it was a fungus Bundimun.

"Shh," was the only thing Draco said back.

"Really, you need to get over this. You can't be lusting over a Mudblood!"

"Don't say that word," Draco said "at least not about her. Hasn't she proven herself more than enough?"

Blaise only looked at him, eyes big from the sudden shock. Then Professor McGonagall came and the class started. Once again Draco didn't listen to the teacher, he only saw Hermione. And Blaise only watched Draco watch Hermione with a small frown, which grew bigger and bigger as the class progressed.

"And can anyone tell me the difference between an Animagus and a wizard skilled in Self-Transfiguration?" McGonagall asked the class. Instantly Hermione raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Granger, I am sure that you have the answer. But would anybody else venture to answer the question?"

Suddenly Draco felt a rush of energy as he raised his hand.

"Yes, Mister Malfoy?"

As soon as the name had left McGonagall's lips, Hermione spun around to look at him. Her eyes were full of misbelieve as she looked into his. He held her gaze as he answered the question.

"An Animagus has a born ability, or in some cases an obtained ability to turn into an animal, but a wizard trained in Self-Transfiguration can simply transfigure himself into an animal, and he therefore needs a wand to perform his transformation."

While looking into Hermione's eyes he saw them turn from revulsion to surprise to admiration. He smiled and for a second, so did she, but she quickly caught herself and she looked away. But that small smile was all it took for Draco to regain faith. He felt better and uplifted and life no longer seemed unfair and rough. His confidence was back. The knowledge that all of this came from a single smile and a little blush, made Draco wonder at how good it would feel when he finally got her. And this time there was no _if_ in his mind. No, there was a definite _when_, and that word had never seemed better.

The rest of the class he spent with a wide smile on his lips. Once or twice he even caught Hermione looking at him through the corner of her eye. When he saw her looking he smiled at her, which made her blush and turn quickly away.

After class Hermione was fast to get to her feet, but she was even slower than earlier when she was packing her bag.

"You can just go, Harry," she said to Potter, who was standing beside her and waiting. "We don't have the next class together, so you just go with Ron. It looks like it's going to take me some time to finish up here."

Potter nodded and then did something that made Draco's stomach flip from jealousy. He leaned over and kissed Hermione on the cheek. She blushed and smiled at him when he left. Draco had a very hard time not punching that stupid smirk of off Potter's face when he walked by.

Not before long the room was empty, Blaise didn't like watching_ 'Draco ogle the Mudblood'_ as he said and left. Draco and Hermione were alone in an empty classroom again. Draco had a flaming desire to ask the brown haired girl why the git with the glasses had kissed her cheek, but he knew very well that he had no claim over her and couldn't ask such things. While he tried to think of something else to say, something funny but still clever, Hermione cut him to the chase.

"Okay, tell me what's going on here, Malfoy," she demanded. Her voice was stern, but Draco saw the curiosity in her eyes. He decided to play innocent.

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"Oh, you know very well what I mean! The nice-thing!"

"I'm afraid I don't follow…"

"Then pick up speed!" she almost yelled at him, and he realized that now was the time to drop the innocent act.

"I'm just trying to be a better person." Okay, he might have dropped playing it innocent, but that didn't mean that he should just confess to everything he felt for her. There was a time and a place for revelation like that, and this wasn't it.

"Why?" Draco was a little startled by that question since he had anticipated mocking or laughing. For a moment he just stood there dumbstruck before answering her.

"Why? Because I'm not proud of the way I have been."

"Hmm," was all she said for a minute or two. Then she grabbed her bag and flung it over her shoulder. "I'll believe it when I see it," she said before leaving him all alone.

Well, she might not have said that she believed him, but she gave him the benefit of the doubt, and that was a lot more than he had the right to ask from her. Now all he had to do was to not let her down and get her to believe him. Draco sighed. Lately his life had become all about _'all he had to do'_, and none of these _'had to do'_swere easy.


	6. Don't Celebrate too Early

**Don't Celebrate too Early**

They didn't speak together for the rest of the day, and he only saw her at dinner. At one time during dinner, she caught him looking at her. Draco was surprised to see that she blushed to a deep pink and then she looked away. That night Draco slept better than he had in a long time.

The next morning he woke up with a smile. He had dreamt about Granger, but in the dream she wasn't _just_ Hermione, she was _his_ Hermione. The dream had him filled with the old confidence, he had been lacking for the last month.

On his way to breakfast he was even in such a good mood that he could annoy the little Weaslette when she walked by him.

"Someone quick, conjure some water!" he yelled when he saw her "this little girl's hair is on fire! Oh, no, wait… It's just Girl Weasley. Well then, forget it. Nothing can save her." Then he smiled at her and walked away. Yep, it had been awhile since that had felt so good.

Blaise wasn't slow to see the change in him either.

"So," he said to Draco while they were sitting at the Slytherin table. "Did you finally shag her?"

Draco almost choked on his Pumpkin Juice.

"What?" he asked. "Why do you think that?"

"You are yourself again," Blaise answered "you look mischievous and you insulted the Weasley Girl. The only explanation for that change would be that you shagged Granger after Transfiguration and got it out of your system."

Draco frowned.

"No, I haven't shagged her," he hissed through clenched teeth. "Stop worrying about me and Granger!"

"But Malfoy, how can I not?"

"You just have to!" With those words he got up while slamming his knife onto the table. Almost the entire hall turned around to see what was happening. Draco kept Blaise's gaze for a second or two longer, just to emphasize that he was serious. Then his eyes wandered to find Hermione's. He was half expecting a smile or a blush, but her eyes were furious. The look she sent him made him storm out of the Hall with everyone's eyes on his back.

Once he was out of the Hall, the rage building inside of him snapped and he put his fist to the stone wall. He turned his back to the wall and slid down it with his head in his hands. She hadn't forgiven him yet, but he had already been celebrating. And this was what he got. Now they were back to square one.

Then he heard the students in the Hall stirring. He stood up fast and began walking away. He wasn't interested in people seeing his newfound vulnerability that was reserved for Hermione Granger's eyes only. Without many thoughts his feet carried him to the first class of the day.

The rest of the day was a blur of depression and images of Hermione. He wasn't paying attention to anything that happened around him. When he had a class without Hermione, he thought of her, when he had one with her, he stared at her. During lunch, he didn't eat he was totally caught up in Hermione. There was only one time when he was ripped from his downhearted thoughts.

After his last class, Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Gryffindors, Draco walked out of the classroom behind Potty and Hermione. He was just walking there and watching her when suddenly Potty put his arm around her waist and pulled her close. There was something so possessive about the gesture that it sent a surge of rage through him. The kiss from the day before flashed through his mind and sent him over the edge.

"Hey Potty!" he couldn't stop himself from yelling. In front of him Hermione and Potter stopped. "Just seen a Dementor, since you're clinging to Granger like that? Or are you just sad that no other girl can stand being with you?"

Potter just shot one look backwards at him. Then he smirked at him and turned to Hermione.

"Let's go," he said to her.

Hermione also looked at Draco and then shook her head.

"You go," she said. "I just have something I have to do."

"Don't get into trouble, alright?"

"I won't," she said and gave him a little smile. He returned the smile and gave her a hug before departing.

She stood still for a while, watching Potter leave before she turned to face Draco.

"Okay, Malfoy," she said "let's talk."

"What about?" he asked.

"Oh, don't give me that! You know what I'm talking about. Or should I refresh your memory? Wasn't it just yesterday that you told me that you were trying to be a better person?"

"Oh, that," he answered and looked at his feet. "I know I'm still working on that."

Hermione snorted at that.

"Yeah, right," she said ironically. "Then why were you picking on Harry just now? And Ginny earlier today?"

Draco shook his head but didn't answer her. Hermione sighed before continuing.

"I almost believed you yesterday." At those words Draco felt his heart flip, but when he saw the disappointed look on Hermione's face, guilt flooded his veins. "But after what you did to my friends today, I have no other choice than to believe that you just told me those things to pull some kind of a prank on me. Well, I hope you are amused!" He didn't answer her, he just look tenderly at her. With bewildered eyes she spun around and stomped away from Draco.


	7. Talking by the Black Lake

**Talking by**** the Black Lake**

After that afternoon Hermione ignored him completely. Whenever she saw him looking at her, her eyes narrowed and she looked away from him. This caused his mood to descend rapidly. Draco had never been good at expressing his feelings, and he didn't feel like talking to his so-called friends about what was wrong. Instead he turned to something that had helped him in the past. He picked up bullying and mocking everyone he saw. It continued like that for a couple of days.

They were sitting in the Great Hall when Hermione suddenly caught his eyes. She stared bluntly at him before moving her head in the direction of the Black Lake. It was a clear motion for him to follow her, and he did so a few minutes after she had gotten up.

He wasn't really sure if he had liked the look she had sent him, but he decided not to let it bother him. He was going to be alone with her for the first time in 3 days. All he really wanted to do was to enjoy the moment.

Once he was outside the castle he stopped to look for her. He finally found her, sitting under his tree near the Black Lake. When he reached her, he slowly sat down besides her. She didn't move, didn't even look at her, she just kept looking out over the lake. But the sudden tension in her shoulders told him that she was aware of his presence.

"Did you want something?" he slowly asked, trying to keep the desire from his voice.

"I don't know," she answered after a little time, still not looking away from the Lake.

"Then why did you want me to follow you?" he tried hard not to sound too eager, even though he was more than eager to have a _real_ conversation with her.

"I thought I knew," she answered and finally looked him in the eyes. All Draco wanted to do was look into those chocolate brown depths for an eternity. But now was not the time for being sappy, he told himself. She wasn't his yet.

"I'm so sorry," he had no idea what he was apologizing for he just felt a need to say the words.

"I don't get you," she said after a moment, her eyes still locked on his. "I really thought you wanted to change. Sitting here with you, you seem changed."

Her words made his body feel warm and flushed. She saw his change! But something was not the way it should be. She was still mad at him.

"But even though you seem changed to me, you are still the same arrogant bastard you always have been."

The words stung like the glare from a Basilisk.

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

"I've been noticing you the last couple of weeks," she said, this time she sounded very curious and she watched him like she would watch an experiment for school. "You have been a complete and otter arse to everyone… except for me."

Even though she didn't ask him why that was, he sensed the question in her delicate features.

"I can't believe I'm going to say this," he whispered more to himself than to her. He didn't know where to look. He wanted to look her in the eyes, but he felt too vulnerable like that. Instead he settled on her long, slim fingers. Then he took a deep breath and started talking.

"I have been wanting to change for a long time now," he started. "For more than a month. I want to be a better person, not so much for myself, but also for someone else. Someone who sees me as an arrogant brat. But you don't know what it's like to be me," at these words he finally found the courage and strength to look her in the eyes. There he saw a kind of comprehension that the person he had been talking about was her. "You don't know what being me means. I was raised to be mean and condescending towards others. I'm not saying this to make excuses for myself; I'm just trying to get you to understand."

He held his breath for a little while until Hermione nodded.

"Well, I tried to be a better person over all," he continued "but my _friends_ found me weird. They don't want to be better, Hermione. They are content with being who and what they are. But _I_ want to change. Unfortunately that can't be done with friends like mine. So I decided to pretend to be the same evil me towards everyone… besides from you. I just really wanted you to see the other side of me."

He ran dry of words, not knowing how to explain himself to her when she was looking at him like that; lips pursed out and with a slight frown. She was beautiful and it took him all his will power to not lean over and touch her from frown to chin.

"Why?" she finally asked the question she had been dying to ask. "Why only me?"

"Because I'm in love with you," came the blunt answer.

Draco saw Hermione's frown give away to surprise. Slowly his words dawned on her and the surprise turned to wonder and it didn't look like it was going to change from that any time soon.

Sighing deeply, he reached over and traced her soft cheek with his thumb. Then he got up, gave her a weak smile and left her sitting alone.

He had no idea if she had believed him. All he could do was hope that she was thinking about him, and hopefully thinking good thoughts. Draco couldn't help being glad that it was Friday, 'cause that meant weekend, and weekend meant that he wouldn't be seeing much of Hermione. And for once that was fine with him. He had an idea that seeing her would be very awkward. At least until she figured out if she wanted him or not.


	8. A Quiet Hour in the Library

**A Quiet Hour in the Library**

When he awoke the next morning he didn't really know how to feel about their conversation. He didn't know if he was happy that it was finally out in the open or if he should be sad that she hadn't said anything to him about his revelation. His feelings were many and various, but he decided to forget every single one of them and go for some breakfast.

He had just emerged from the dungeons, where the Slytherin Common Room was, when he felt a hand grab his sleeve and pull him into a dark shadow. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw who the hand belonged to. In front of him was Granger.

"Hermione," he whispered and smiled at her. Then the smile became a frown. "How did you know where I was? Do you know the location of you Common Room?"

She smiled wickedly at him, and he couldn't help but returning the smile. She wasn't mad at him, he realized.

"Oh, Malfoy please," she said "like you are the only sneaky student in this school!" And with that she laughed a little hesitant laugh. But too quickly the laugh ended and she was once again the serious Hermione.

He sensed the change in her mood and wiped the smile of his face.

"Can I do something for you?" he asked her formally.

"Yes," she answered. "You can follow me to a better place. And then you can answer my questions."

"Questions?" he asked but followed her none the less as she began walking away from him. "It sounds bad."

"It will be even worse if you don't answer them," she said and gave her another wicked smile. He really loved that smile, so full of mischief. For some reason he had never thought she could be teasing or even bad. He had always thought that those times she had gotten in trouble had been because Potty and Weasel had made her do it. Well, he was wrong, like he had been with everything concerning her.

At first he didn't recognise the corridors she was leading him through, but not before long he realized where they were going. The library, of course Granger's favourite place in this school. And he had to admit that it was also one of his favourite places. Mostly because it was almost always empty, making it a great place to be alone with one's thoughts.

They entered the library and Hermione led the way to a table in the back. She sat down at the end of the table and pointed to the chair next to her. He lowered his head and followed her silent request.

"So," he said looking around him, taking in everything about the small space. The books were crammed into narrow shelves and so dusty that Draco guessed they hadn't been read in a while. "Why the sudden kidnap?" He sent her a sly smile he hoped would dazzle her out of her socks.

"Stop that," she said, and he knew she was referring to the smile. He obeyed her, but not before he had seen the pink blush on her cheeks. "As I said," she went on to say "I have some questions for you."

Her tone of voice was formal and Draco felt like she was seeing him as a hard equation that she had to solve. He knew he should be a little angry at that, but he found it strangely satisfying. If nothing else it meant that she was interested in him in some way. It was definitely better than nothing, he decided.

"Yesterday you told me about certain feelings you had for me," her slight blush grew deeper, almost red at this point.

"You can say it, Hermione," he whispered. He said her name with such feeling and tenderness that she smiled a little. "Just say it." He urged her on.

"You said you were in love with me," she whispered, staring intently at her hands while saying the words. He took her chin in his hand and forced her to meet his eyes.

"I _am_ in love with you, Hermione." He felt her tremble when he said the words aloud for the second time. She swallowed something lodged in her throat before she continued.

"Yes, that's what I want to talk to you about," she said, the equation curiosity back in her voice and the blush fading from her cheeks. It took her some time to say what she wanted. Draco saw her fighting to find the right words and the confident look seemed to disappear.

"How can I trust you?" she whispered.

"I can't tell you that," he answered simply. "I can't make you trust me, Hermione. It doesn't work like that. You just have to give me the benefit of the doubt. But I did hope that you could trust me just a little more than usual considering what I just told you."

"Well, just think about all the things I've been through with you. Do you blame me if I think this is just one, big hoax?"

"No, I don't," he said looking away from her. "But I promise I will do all in my powers to win your forgiveness."

"You have it," she said and this time it was her turn to grab his chin and turn his face towards hers. "I forgive you," she spoke out every word very clearly. The sound of them almost brought tears to Draco's eyes.

"You don't know how happy that makes me," Draco said. He heard the tremble in his voice, but it didn't matter. His thoughts were wrapped up in the three words she had just said to him. "Then I will just use my energy to make you trust me."

Hermione laughed at his determination.

"You sure are used to getting it your way, aren't you Malfoy?" she teased him.

"Draco," he corrected her softly.

"Hmm," Hermione said while she was thinking about his correction. "I guess I wouldn't kill me to use your first name… Draco."

His heart fluttered in his breast. Never before had his name sounded so beautiful than when it was said by the woman he was in love with. Before he could stop himself he grabbed her hand a pressed a kiss against her palm. It smelled like parchment and ink, which didn't surprise him at all. Hermione gasped at his sudden action, and the sound made Draco drop her hand.

"I'm sorry," he said and then made a little laugh. "I apologize to you way too much, don't I?"

Hermione smiled weakly at him, but didn't answer him in any other way.

"Okay, well…" Draco stammered as a rather uncomfortable silence filled the space they were sitting in. "Did you have any other questions?"

His question made her smile widely.

"Loads," she answered. "But let's save them for another time. I'm practically starving."

Draco laughed at her words when he felt his own stomach protesting.

"Yeah, me too," he said, returning her smile. "It's okay with me. Postponing your questions just means that we will be spending more time together in the future."

"Well, I never figured you for an optimist," she said with a crooked smile.

"You just don't know me as well as you think you do," he whispered. Without hesitating he grabbed her hand once more, dragged her to her feet but didn't let go of her hand. Instead he pressed a small kiss against it, never looking away from her eyes. He was pleased to see the blush return to her cheeks. Then he released her hand with his lips but not his hand.

"Let's go," he said and hand in hand they walked to the door leading out of the library. There Hermione let go of his hand. Draco sent her a confused look.

"Your image," she said to answer his silent question. "My image. People would talk forever if they saw us together like this."

Draco laughed.

"Wow," he said "you're even smart when you're outside the classroom."

Playfully Hermione hit him on the arm.

"So, when do we meet again?" he asked her.

"I don't know," she answered. "How about later today, after lunch?"

"Why not right after breakfast?" he was all too aware of how childish he sounded.

"Because I have other friends and so do you," she answered. Even though she said the words fast and matter-of-factly the true meaning of her words didn't escape him.

"So, we're friends?" there was no way of keeping the joy from his voice.

"Yes," she said staring him right into the eyes. "For now." He saw a little flash of playfulness in her eyes and had to smile at her.

For a moment she just stared at him and he got the feeling that there was something she wanted to say or do. But after a little while she just sighed and walked away. He watched her leave when he realized that they hadn't decided on a place for their meeting. Apparently Hermione had realized the same thing. She turned her head towards him while still walking and called to him, "The Astronomy Tower." And then she turned a corner and disappeared.


	9. A Tower with Memories

**A Tower with Memories**

As soon as he had finished his lunch he rose from his seat at the Slytherin table. He searched the Gryffindor table but as soon as he had located Hermione he left the Hall. She looked like she would be finished at any moment so he thought it best to go to the Tower before she was done.

Normally the Tower was off limits to students during the day, since Astronomy classes were only held at midnight. But Draco wasn't known as a rule breaker for nothing, so he had no internal conflicts about breaking into the class room. He had only just entered the Tower when a memory flashed through his mind. The memory was from the last time he had been in this Tower, which was now two years ago. It was that fatal night, when he was supposed to kill Albus Dumbledore but he hadn't been able to do it, so Severus Snape had done it for him.

The memory weighed him down and pressed his heart into the pit of his stomach. His legs suddenly gave away and he sat down hard on the cold stone floor unable to get back up.

He didn't hear her enter the room he was rambling down old and horrible memories. But he felt her feather light touch to the backside of his hand. The casual touch that said much more than any words could do ripped him from the memory and sent him back to the present.

"Draco," she whispered concern making her eyes glassy. "Are you alright?"

For a moment he didn't have the strength to answer. Then he settled on just shaking his head.

"Tell me what's wrong," she pleaded and grabbed his hand harder. "Talk to me."

The worry he heard in her voice and the force of the unbearable memory he had not yet shared with anyone made a lonely tear fall from the corner of one of his eyes. He had never before cried in front of anyone. Hermione placed the palm of her hand on his cheek and wiped the tear away with her thumb.

"Please tell me," she whispered. Draco took a deep breath and prepared to tell the woman of his life the most horrible thing he had ever done.

"I guess you know from Potter what happened up here the night Dumbledore died?" he asked her avoiding her eyes.

"Yes I do," she answered "but I would rather hear your side of the story. Harry can be rather opinionated." Draco knew she was trying to make jokes to make him feel better, but she wasn't committed to the joke and he wasn't in any mood to feel better. "Tell me what happened and why it is still haunting you." The soft demand couldn't be argued with he knew how stubborn she was.

"Well, what is haunting me is the fact that I caused another man's death!" Draco couldn't hold back the roar. First Hermione looked startled and a little scared something that almost made Draco hit himself. But not before long her expression softened and she even smiled slightly at him.

"Why do you say that?" she asked him.

"Why?" he repeated her question. "I came up here to kill him, Hermione. I might not have done it, but I could have stopped it."

"How?" she asked.

Draco thought about that for a while but didn't come up with an answer.

"I don't know," he answered her. His response made her smile widen and she squeezed his hand lightly.

"Precisely," she said and looked him deep in the gray eyes that were still a little red from holding back tears. "There was nothing you could have done. If I understood Harry correctly there were too many Death Eaters for you to be able to fight them back. You did what you could you let someone else kill him. Exactly what Albus wanted."

Her words caused his eyes to fill with wonder.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked softly.

"You mean…" Hermione started but trailed off. "No one ever told you?"

"Told me what?"

"No wonder that night still has this effect on you," she continued more to herself than to him.

"Hermione, told me what?"

Hermione released his hand and moved both her hands to cup his cheeks locking their eyes.

"Dumbledore asked Severus to kill him." Draco didn't say anything but felt a strange sort of ease. Then Hermione continued, "Dumbledore didn't want you to become a murderer, so he asked Severus to kill him before you could."

Suddenly tears of release started running down Draco's cheeks. There was no way he could hold them back any longer, as he heard of the two old men's sacrifice. Sacrifices they had made for his sake. In front of him Hermione became a blur, but he felt her fragile arms wrap around his shoulders, holding him close to her.

They both lost track of time sitting there closely together. They didn't even break apart when Draco's tears ceased to fall. Neither of them wanted the moment to end. Draco was very content feeling wrapped up in her, so close to her heart that he could hear it beating. He felt her heavy, warm breath brush his ear. Then her chest raised and he knew she was about to say something.

"You were right," she said. He had to laugh at her defeated tone. Without really wanting to he pulled away from her to look her in the eye.

"Did my ears deceive me?" he said with a teasing smile. "Did Hermione Granger just say that I was right about something?"

Her eyes narrowed in a playful scold he had never seen before but would do anything to see again.

"Don't get to cocky," she kindly reprimanded him.

"What was I right about?" he asked with a big smile.

"What you said earlier today," the playfulness was gone and she was once again serious. Draco admired her ability to change moods so quickly. "I really don't know you."

"I'm glad you realized that," he said sincerely. "I won't say that the person I used to be was never really me. Because it was, and I don't want to lie to you anymore. I used to love being the bad guy and the bully. It gave me a kick that nothing else could. But lately after all that has happened with this war and our world I no longer find any real pleasure in it. I want you to know that."

She nodded her reply. When the nod caused one of her curls to brush his cheek he suddenly realized how close they were sitting, his nose only a few inches from touching hers. He caught himself thinking that if he just leaned forward a little he could kiss her like he had wanted to for way too long. He was still debating whether or not to do it, when Hermione got to her feet with a flushed face.

"We should leave," her trembling voice sounded. "We've been sitting here for too long."

Totally disoriented Draco also stood up.

"Erm," he started saying. Then he dropped it and looked at his watch. What he saw shocked him.

"What?" Hermione asked. "How long have we been up here?"

"An hour and a half," Draco mumbled.

"Oh Merlin's Doxy filled beard!" Hermione's voice sounded almost frantic. "How am I going to explain this to Ron and Harry? I told them I just went to library to pick up a weekend book. They must be looking for me now and worrying about me. Especially Harry…" She was caught herself before she could say anything else. She sent Draco an apologizing smile which quickly became a worried grimace.

Draco felt a desperate need to protect her and comfort and went to put an arm around her, which made Hermione look up at his face.

"Just tell them," Draco started saying "that you checked out a book and started reading it on your way back to the Common Room. You got so caught up in it that you finally just sat down somewhere and read."

Her breath slowly went from panicked to relaxed.

"Sure," she said after a minute "I can do that."

"Besides," Draco added with a cocky and confident smirk. "It's not totally wrong. I just happen to be the 'book' you picked up and couldn't leave alone."

When she smiled at him his thoughts wandered to what she had said about Potter. Why would he be more worried about her than Weasley? But he didn't want to make her sad again, and he decided to drop the matter. For time being, anyway.

_Reviews are greatly appreciated. I really want to know if anyone feels that it is going to__o slowly, or if Draco is too out of character?_


	10. Questions

**Questions**

Draco had no problem with his friends like Hermione had with hers. The main difference was that Draco's friends didn't really care about him at all, so they weren't worried about him. When he entered the Common Room they just looked at him briefly before they continued with whatever they were doing before. Not that it really bothered Draco all that much. He had found out long ago that they weren't friends.

Sitting by himself in the Common Room he had the time to think about Hermione – again. He laughed a little when he remembered what she had said, _'Oh Merlin's Doxy filled beard'_. He still had trouble imagining her saying something like that. She didn't strike him as someone so daring. But then again, he had been very wrong about her up until now. As he was laughing about her exclamation and his own silliness something else she had said came back to him. _'Especially Harry…'_.

That brought back an old fear of his. Why would Potter worry more about her than Weasel? Unless there was something going on between Hermione and Potter. That would explain it, along with the kiss after Transfiguration and the possessiveness he displayed towards her.

Again he saw the kiss that Harry gave Hermione flashing before his eyes. Would she have told him, if there was something between the two of them?

More than once he had admitted that he had never really known Hermione Granger, but lately he had had a feeling that he was beginning to see who she was. But when it came to this question he had to admit that he had absolutely no clue whatsoever.

For one thing he didn't know if she trusted him enough to tell him. And really, why would she? He hadn't exactly given her a reason to trust him over the last 7 years. It would be wrong of him to think that she could change his mind about him complete in a little more than a month.

But on the other side he just didn't think that she was the kind of girl that would play with his heart. Okay, she might be more mischievous than he had expected, but she wasn't downright mean or anything.

In the end he came to the conclusion that she still didn't trust him and as of that she hadn't told him. But if he were to ask her, she was going to tell him, if there was in fact anything going on between Potter and herself.

The thought was quite settling. The day had left him exhausted, with all the crying and emotional outbursts, so he decided to take a nap before going to dinner. It didn't take him long to fall asleep after he had lied down on his bed in the dormitory he shared with Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini and Bletchley. His sleep should have been comfortable and relaxing but instead he ended up in a horrible nightmare.

The dream started off as a nice one. He was reliving the day he had been sitting with Hermione by the Black Lake, but this scene was much better. He was sitting with his back against a tree and with Hermione sitting between his legs and leaning into him. He had his hands around her waist and resting on her stomach. Her own hands were resting on top his. He had his face buried in her crazy hair, which he had always teased her with, but he had come to see, just how perfect it was as everything else on her body. As cosy as the dream was it turned to a nightmare when the tree he was leaning against suddenly revealed a mouth with which it swallowed Draco whole. Right before he disappeared into the depths of the tree he saw a lightening etched into the surface of it right above the mouth, and when he had almost gone all the way down, he saw the tree take Hermione into its arms. And she willingly gave herself to the tree. Then he awoke.

Okay, Draco wasn't much for symbol dreams, but he couldn't deny the truth in this one. He had just dreamed his worst nightmare, and it seemed like it was becoming a reality. There was no way he could find peace and relaxation after this dream. He had no other choice than to find Hermione and talk to her about Potter.

Draco had never in his life felt a fear like the one he felt when he thought about taking that talk with her. Yes, he had been scared silly when Lord Voldemort had threatened to kill his family and himself, but this fear was something completely different. He wouldn't physically die if she had a thing with Potter, which made it all the more scary. He would be alive to feel the pain of his loss for the rest of his life.

In the hallway leading away from the dungeons he suddenly remembered that he had no idea where the Gryffindor Common Room was. He frowned slightly. There was something disturbing about the fact that she knew where to find him, but he didn't know where to find her. Unless she was in the library. It was a possibility, so before he could think twice about it he was walking in the direction of the Library.

The library was quite big, and there were many places a smart and beautiful bookworm could be hiding. He stood in the doorway and looked around him to see, if Hermione was near the front door. When he started walking he accidentally knocked over a first year student from Hufflepuff, causing the little boy to drop all of the books he had been carrying. Madam Pince shot him a malicious look with her small vulture-like eyes. He apologised first to the student, took out his wand and made the books soar back into the boys arms, and then he apologised to Madam Pince before he resumed his search.

She was sitting in the back of the library where they had been talking the very same morning. Even though his mind was clouded with the fear of losing the girl of his dreams, no of his life, to his worst enemy, he couldn't stop himself from standing there and just watching her as she read her book.

The book was lying on the table in front of her and next to it she had a piece of parchment lying. Her head was bent over the book in concentration and her brows were almost touching each other. She read fast through the lines in the book and when she found what she was looking for, her face lit up in a triumphant smile and she quickly noted her find on the parchment with a long feathered quill. When she was done writing she returned to the book, nibbling softly on the end of the quill. When she found something of her interest, she again went to write it down on the parchment. She was so caught up in the words she was writing that she didn't really know where the end of the quill was and when it brushed her under the nose she shuddered lightly before sneezing. The sight made Draco laugh causing Hermione to turn around and look at him.

"Are you laughing at me?" she asked.

"Yes," his answer was blunt as he sat down on the chair next to her. "You should really see yourself when you're caught up in studying like this. You are bloody adorable."

The unexpected compliment made her cheeks turn pink and a little smile formed on her full lips.

"Really?"

"Totally," he said truthfully as he tugged a stray curl behind her ear. He released the curl and traced her jaw with two fingers. The intimate touch seemed to make Hermione a little uncomfortable and she turned her head away from him.

"Did you come here for a book or to laugh at me?" she asked, looking intently at the pages of her book, pretending to read the words. Draco knew she was pretending since her eyes where moving too fast and too randomly over the page.

"Neither," he answered her. "I actually came here because I had a question for you."

"That's not really fair," she said, daring to look at him again. "I never finished with my questions."

"Well, I only have this one," he insured her. "After that you can ask me as many as you want."

"Okay," Hermione agreed and made herself more comfortable in her chair.

"It's not really a fun question," he said with an apologizing half smile.

"Don't worry," she said. "Many of the questions I have for you aren't fun either."

Her tone was slightly joking and was probably meant to make him more comfortable, but it didn't really work.

"What I want to know is: are you and Potter… a thing?"

It was easy to see that the question startled her, but she wasn't mad like he had feared. Instead she looked a little hurt. He immediately regretted asking her.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I know it's none of my business. I didn't know…"

But Hermione cut him off by placing a finger on his thin lips.

"Don't apologize," she said. In spite of the awkward situation they were in he couldn't help noticing the familiarity of the gesture and the warmth of her skin against his. "You have the right to know."

It took her a while before she was ready to continue. Draco pressed his lips firmly against her finger, hoping that the kiss would give her the courage to tell him what was wrong. She smiled at that and moved her hand to cup his cheek.

"Harry has feelings for me," she whispered. Just as Draco had feared.

"Can I ask you, how you feel about him?" he dared to ask. He wasn't really sure if he wanted to know the answer, but at least the certainty was better than worrying all the time.

"You can," she answered and waited a little before she said something again. "I love him." And then the sky fell down right on Draco's burdened head. Hermione sensed his despair and grabbed onto his head with both her hands and looked him firmly in the eyes. "As a brother." And then the sky was back in its own place, brighter than ever before and filled with happy birds singing the melody of his joyful heart.

"And me?" he had to know the answer, even thought it was only the day before he had told her about his feelings.

"I'm still undecided," she answered him.

"That's good," he said removing her hands from his face and holding them tight between his own. "I mean, it would be better if you had already realized that you love me, but at least you haven't decided to go in the other direction." He sent her a confident smirk that made her laugh silently.

"You have a lot of faith in yourself," she said smiling.

"Nah," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. "I have faith in love." He winced when he heard the words coming out of his mouth. "Okay, I'm not usually this sappy." He hurried and said. "You just bring it out in me." She laughed again.

"Well, that's good to know. 'Cause neither am I."

For a moment they sat together silently before Hermione freed herself of Draco's hands and turned to her book.

"If that was all, I'll get back to my book," she said and picked up her quill.

"Well, actually," he said "I do have one… no, two more questions."

She turned to him, smiling.

"You said you only had one," she said. "And when I had answered it, you would let me question you."

He had to laugh when he saw the teasing gleam in her eyes.

"That was before I knew what you were going to answer."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, if you had said that you were into Potter, I would have stopped at that one question. But hearing that you aren't together and that you haven't dismissed me just yet, I have a few more things I want to know."

She returned to her former position in the chair.

"Fire away," she said, sounding almost like she trusted him.

"Okay, well, have you told Potter how you feel about him?"

The question made her frown a little, but she answered it just the same.

"Yes, I have," she answered him.

"And…" Draco urged her on.

"And, Harry is certain that we just spend enough time together or if he just touches me like a boyfriend would touch a girlfriend that I would see him differently. It's not working."

He sighed in relief.

"Good," he smirked. "Can't you make him stop touching you in public? Or just at all, really?"

He knew he shouldn't be asking, but there was no stopping him now.

"No, I can't. He won't listen when I ask him. Perhaps I can negotiate a deal with him about the public thing, though. Why do you want to know that?"

"No reason," he quickly said. Too quickly.

"You get jealous?" surprise coloured her voice. Draco winced a little at that but he didn't try to deny it.

"Of course I get jealous," he blurted out. "It hurts to see the person you hate the most touch the person you love." He caught himself before he got the chance to add _'the person I love the most'_. He wasn't ready for her to know that just yet. It might drive her away.

"That's actually kind of sweet," Hermione said with a little smile.

"Oh, so you like to see me tortured?"

"Of course I do. You've been torturing me for so many years that it's nice to torture you a little."

The words could have been hurting to him, but he saw the teasing gleam in her eyes again, and knew that she didn't really mean it.

"Seriously," she said and her mood change completely from playful to serious. "I will talk to Harry about the whole public thing. It would make me feel better as well. Sometimes I think that he only kisses me and touches me in public to make it seem like we are dating. You know, so he suddenly has some kind of claim over me."

"Sounds like Potter," Draco mumbled earning him a reprimanding look from Hermione. "Sorry," he muttered. "Now, for my last question."

"But you already asked me two…"

"Yes, but the second was more of a… suggestion. I still have one question left."

She laughed but nodded for him to ask it.

"Have you told anyone about my feelings for you?"

"No, not a soul. I won't do that till I'm sure of how I feel about you."

"Good."

"Then let me ask you one thing. Have you told anyone about how you feel about me?"

Draco felt a little blush enter his pale cheeks.

"Not exactly," he said. "But Blaise guessed it."

"How?" there was real curiosity in Hermione's voice.

"Well, he noticed how I kept looking at you. And he had before said that I seemed lovesick… so he guessed it."

"What did he say about it?"

"Oh, you don't want to know," Draco said. "Blaise has a… a… dirty tongue. Yeah, let's just call it that."

"Even so," Hermione pressed on "I want to know."

"He told me to… to just shag you and get it over with." Draco blushed, the first time he had ever done that while talking about sex. Usually it wasn't such a tender subject but with Hermione it was different. He searched her face for a clue to what she was thinking. But it didn't help him at all. She was as closed as the book in front of her was open.

"How did you respond?" she asked him quietly.

"Remember the morning that I stormed out of the Great Hall?"

"Yes, that was the same morning as you teased Ginny."

"Well, Blaise is the reason why I left."

She didn't answer him, just smiled gently. Then she turned to her book once again and began reading.

"Hermione…" he whispered, not wanting to disturb her.

"Yes," she answered without looking up from her book.

"Can I just sit here with you?"

"And do what, watch me read?"

"Yes."

She thought about it for a second and then nodded her agreement.

When Draco placed his head in his hands to find a better position in the hard chair, he thought he heard her mumble, "Never thought of you as the voyeur type."

_Okay, so this chapter was a little… or a lot longer than the others really. I'm having kind of a writer's block so I would really like some reviews. Let's just say that the chapters are gonna stop coming if I don't get some feedback. So please, review no matter what you feel like saying._

13


	11. When Trusting Becomes Difficult

**When Trusting Becomes Difficult**

They didn't leave the library before Madam Pince threw them out at 8 o'clock. By then it was too late for dinner at the Great Hall, so they went their separate ways back to each of their Common Rooms. When Draco went to sleep it was with a big grin.

And he woke up the same grin. And he walked to breakfast with. And he ate his breakfast with it and with true joy. Something that didn't go unnoticed by Blaise.

"Someone is happy," Blaise commented with a sly smile. Draco let it slide by.

"So…" Blaise kept on saying. "Did you finally do it?"

"Do what?" Draco asked without looking up from his food.

"Come on, you know what I'm talking about," Blaise said and nudged Draco with his elbow.

"I really don't" Draco lied. In fact he knew exactly what Blaise was on about. The only thing they had been talking about for a while now.

"Well, then let me spell it out for you," Blaise said still with the stupid smirk. "Have. You. Shagged. Granger?"

As soon as Draco heard the words he felt a muscle in his cheek twitch. He wasn't going to say anything, he was just going let it pass by, and then Blaise could think what he wanted to think. He was counting on Blaise to leave him alone, if he didn't say anything. However, just the opposite happened.

"Oh, you are the MAN!" Blaise said and held out his hand for a high five. Draco didn't give in, but he felt his mood deteriorate fast.

"So you finally did it, huh? So, no more lovesick puppy, right?"

Draco kept on ignoring him. He couldn't tell Blaise the true nature of his relationship with Hermione. He knew that Blaise didn't believe in just talking to girls. All they were good for, in Blaise's sick mind, was a quickie in some random broom closet.

"Well, don't be so moody about it. Tell me all about what happened. I've never been with a Mudblood, how is it?"

Draco felt his entire jaw clench and every muscle in his body were tensed up to prevent himself from hitting Blaise repeatedly.

"Not to ruin your triumph, but wasn't it dirty? You know, like her blood is?"

Another second of this and Draco knew he was going to snap.

"Come on man, share just one little thing…"

"Nothing has happened between Granger and me," Draco finally caved in and said.

For a moment Blaise looked a little confused but then the smirk reappeared.

"Oh, I see," he said. "You aren't really in a sharing mood. Or was it just not as good as you had expected? Or perhaps it was better? Yes, there it is! It was better and now you want more."

"Blaise stop talking, please," Draco said through clenched teeth.

"What's up Draco?" suddenly Blaise looked worried. "You've always shared your conquests with me."

"She isn't a conquest, Blaise," Draco said softly.

"Oh boy," Blaise whispered when the truth finally began to dawn on him. "Are you falling for her? Draco, please tell me that you aren't falling in love with her. Just tell me that you only had sex with her and then that's it."

He couldn't answer him. There was no right answer there was only fury and anger. His best _friend_ didn't get him, didn't understand him and didn't even stand by him.

"Draco, you tell me that you only shagged her…"

At that point it all became too much for him.

"Fine!" he yelled and got up, knocking over everything within his reach in the process. "Fine, I shagged Granger!"

When the Hall suddenly started cheering and whooping he knew he was a bastard. He knew he was scum and that everything was ruined. His eyes darted to the Gryffindor table where he quickly found Hermione. She was looking directly at him, tears in her eyes and down her cheeks. She was holding a hand to her mouth, but he still saw her perfect lips tremble. Then she ran from the Hall.

Draco was in total shock. Just a few minutes ago everything was fine. Now he had made her cry. Again. He looked at Blaise with disgust eminent in his every feature. Then he left the Hall as well to find Hermione.

Out of the Hall he saw a quick flash of brown, bushy hair on the way out of the castle. He ran after it and saw Hermione on the little patch her knew leaded to Hagrid's Hut.

"Hermione!" he called at her.

"Don't talk to me!" she yelled back without slowing down. "And don't you ever address me so informally again!" The sobs she was holding back were visible in her voice.

He sped up until he caught up with her, grabbed her elbow and made her stop. For a second she just stared at his hand around her arm. Then she moved to look at his face. The rage and hurt he saw there in her face made him lose his breath. But the fist she brought to his nose really made it clear to him just how much she hated him. He had to let her go to hold his nose and she stomped away with long, angry steps.

"Hermione, just listen to me for a second!"

"Oh, I already did that!" she yelled back at him, her voice thick with sarcasm. "_'I shagged Granger'_ remember that?!"

"Would you just hear me out?" he had caught up with her once more and was walking besides her.

"No!" she stopped up suddenly and the tears were flowing even more freely. "I have listened to you for far too long! You know, you almost had me yesterday! You almost did!"

"I never wanted to hurt you, Hermione," he emphasized every one of his words.

"Oh, but I think you did!" she was still yelling at him. "I think it was your goal right from the beginning! To hurt me and to make me look stupid. Well, congratulations champ! You succeeded. I really was stupid for trusting you."

Her last words were hissed at him and they each hit him like a Bludger to the head.

"You have to believe me," he didn't care if he was pleading. She was the only thing that had ever mattered to him and now he was losing her. "None of that was ever my intention. Please forgive me, I was a total git back there, but Blaise had me cornered!"

"I'm not falling for your pathetic act anymore, Malfoy." The words were spoken softly but Draco heard the final and cruel edge to them.

"Please, Hermione," he was pleading as if she was the only thing that kept him alive. "Please forgive me. You are such a kind and trusting person."

She laughed the last remark off with a hard and sarcastic laugh. She stared intently into his eyes before she said to him, "Yeah, and look where it got me."

The she turned her back at him and this time Draco didn't try to follow her. He was slowly drowning and it was all his own fault.

_Ooh, a little cliff-hanger for you guys. And for me seeing as I have no idea what is going to happen next. I guess I'll just have to let my fingers do the walking… or writing that is.__ I got a great review about Hermione being a little OOC and I really wanted to try and change that, hence this chapter. Tell me what you guys think of it._


	12. A Gesture with Meaning

**A Gesture with Meaning**

It was almost the end of his last year at Hogwarts. But he wasn't sad about leaving the school, or at least that wasn't the main reason why he was sad. It had been a week since Hermione had stopped talking to him. He had tried time and time again to get her to talking to him so that he could explain himself, but no matter what he did, Hermione never let him back in. Once he had tried holding on to her arm again, but that just made her so mad that she cursed his lips together with a Permanent Sticking Charm. Madam Pomfrey couldn't force his lips apart so he did the only he could. He used a silent Sectumsempra, causing his lips to be forced apart and start bleeding like mad. Luckily Madam Pomfrey was good with wounds and blood so the only reminder of the incident was his wounded pride and a small silvery scar on his bottom lip.

Since the year was almost at an end, finals had already started and he wasn't going back anymore, Draco was beginning to feel more and more desperate. He needed to get Granger to talk to him again. Perhaps she would never be his after what he had done, but he was a selfish creature and he needed to be forgiven if he was to live with himself.

But it seemed impossible to him. Hermione was stubborn much like himself. _'Even so,'_ he thought to himself as he was sitting under his tree _'there has to be _something_ I haven't tried yet. There must something I can do, to make her change her mind about me.'_

Well, it sounded like it could be done, but he had no idea how. It would have to take a major gesture, much like the thing he did to make her mad in the first place. And then it came to him as mischief comes to a pixie. He knew then what to do, but it was going to take a lot of courage to do it. Courage and humility, the latter being a concept Draco hadn't had much experience with.

It was exactly one week since his outburst during breakfast in the Great Hall. During dinner this Saturday Draco was on the edge of his seat worried and anxious about what he was about to do. Blaise was eyeing him nervously but he kept his mouth shut.

After Hermione and Draco's fight Draco had went back to the Slytherin Common Room where Blaise was waiting for him. He had tried to apologise but Draco refused to talk to him or accept the apology. Since that day Draco had cut himself of from all Slytherins and put all his energy in studying, exams and Hermione Granger. The studying paid off and his exams were going great. But Hermione was a different matter. Her stubbornness was the reason he was doing what he was.

Soon Headmistress McGonagall rose to say a few words before dinner, just formal stuff not the crazy things that the nutter Dumbledore would have said. But before McGonagall could reach the platform, Draco got up.

"Professor," he said loudly making McGonagall freeze in place.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy?" her voice was somewhat stern, but Draco tuned that out.

"I was just wondering," he started "if I could say a few words… uh… Please?" the word didn't feel right when the entire school was staring at him.

McGonagall looked very befuddled but nodded and sat down again. Draco took a deep breath to try and calm himself down.

"Erm," he stammered "perhaps you all remember what I said last week?" Okay, not a good thing to start up with, because suddenly the entire Hall was either laughing or grinning widely.

"But what I said," he quickly said to make the laughter stop "was a lie."

The Hall went somewhat back to normal. There was still a few people smirking, but Draco carried on.

"I have never been with Hermione Granger in any other way than a friendly one."

"That's not really true either," it was the Ginny Girl speaking. "How about all the years of teasing her?"

Draco felt his cheeks heat up and he was sure that his face was deep red.

"Oh, yeah that," he mumbled. Then he raised his voice again. "I truly am sorry about how I have been behaving towards her. And her friends… including you, Ginny." Saying her name was harder than he had imagined, but when it was done he looked away from her and met Hermione's wondering eye.

"Hermione," his voice was more hushed but still the Hall heard him clearly. "Hermione, I am so sorry for everything I have ever done to you, I really am. I am sorry about calling you names and I'm sorry about what I said a week ago." He looked around in the Great Hall. "The truth is… that I am in love with her. I am in love with Hermione Granger."

There, he had said it. It was no longer a secret. The silence in the Hall was so thick that Draco had no doubt that he could have cut it with his wand. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, the Hall burst out in applause lead by Minerva McGonagall. He let his eyes wonder across the Hall till he saw Hermione, for whom he had done all this.

"You and me outside!" she mouthed to him and strode out of the Hall with long steps. He sighed and followed her, making the clapping hands in the Hall clap even louder than before.

He had only just closed the door to the Great Hall behind him when a fist hit his chest hard.

"What was that about?!" Hermione yelled at him. She grabbed his sleeve and forcefully pulled him with her through a labyrinth of corridors.

"What the hell were you doing back there?!" she resumed yelling once they were standing still again in an abandoned corridor.

"I was apologising to you," Draco said calmly.

"Oh Merlin!" Hermione exclaimed and threw her hand in the air. "And you thought the best way to do that was to do in front of the entire school?"

"Well, yeah" Draco defended himself. "It was the only way I could get you to listen to me!"

"I have a reason for not listening to you, Draco Malfoy! A very good one!"

"I know…" but she was having a tantrum that he couldn't stop just yet.

"You made me seem like a whore!" she yelled. "I actually trusted you, and you betrayed me, and I have never felt more stupid in my entire life!"

"Hermione…" he tried to calm her down, but she wasn't finished yet.

"I should have known better than to trust a snake like you," she hissed. "I should have known that no matter how friendly a snake seems it can still be poisonous."

She didn't continue and Draco saw his opportunity.

"You aren't stupid," he began saying and ignored the snort she made. "You have every right to hate me and distrust me. But that's why I apologised to you in front of all those people back there. I wanted you to know that I am serious. This isn't a joke to me; my feelings for you aren't a joke. And now everyone in this school knows that Draco Malfoy was wrong and has been for several years."

She turned her face towards him and revealed tears in her eyes. But Draco couldn't sense any anger anymore.

"Hermione…" he said once again.

And then he couldn't contain his desire anymore. He leaned forwards and pressed his lips to hers. First she didn't respond to him, but slowly she started moving her lips against his. He sighed against her lips and pulled her to him. Suddenly she drew her head back from his. She looked at him with confusion before she started hitting his chest with her palms. But Draco felt the lack of force behind the blows and kept holding on to her.

"What is wrong with you?" she tried to yell, but the words were hoarse. "You can't just kiss me and think everything is all right then!"

She continued hitting him for a while till she got tired of it. Then she let herself fall into Draco's embrace. He clung onto her like she was his life vest and the corridor was filling up with water.

"This doesn't mean that I have forgiven you," he heard her mumble into his robe.

"I know," he whispered.

"It just means that I don't hate you anymore. At least not as much as before."

_Okay, so I hope you weren't disappointed with this chapter. I just really felt sorry for Draco and I wanted to see their relationship evolve. __I know that Draco is quite out of character by now, but in my mind he seriously wants to change, and not just because of Hermione, but also because of the wrongs he has done in his life. I think that this change was already visible in the 6__th__ book. But… tell me what you think about this chapter, and then I'll start writing the next._

7


	13. Listening to a Conversation

**Listening to a Conversation between Friends**

The next morning he was full of joy and angst. The joy was all Hermione, but the angst couldn't be ignored, he had to face it soon enough. He had a practical exam in Defence Against the Dark Arts. A subject he hadn't ever really been comfortable with. So he had decided to try and find Hermione before the exam, hoping that the joy he felt with her could drown the angst. But finding a single know-it-all in a castle the size of Wales was definitely not easy. Especially when he didn't know where her dorms were. So he was roaming the halls and corridors hoping to just bump into her.

When he suddenly heard her voice out of nowhere, his heart fluttered to his throat and threatened to strangle him, but after really listening to her, he heard the anxious edge to her words. He knew all too well what that edge meant, having stood on it far too many times himself. She was mad.

"Harry please," he heard her say. So she wasn't alone, and her anger wasn't directed at him either. As much as he hated her being angry, he couldn't help but smirk at the thought of her being angry at his main competitor and rival.

"No, Hermione," he heard Potter say "just tell me! We're friends, remember?"

"Yes, Harry I remember. And you know that we are more than that…" Draco heard how she was about to say something more but Potter interrupted her.

"Yes, yes," he sounded impatient "you feel like we are family… you've said that. But I have told you what I think of that."

"You have, yes."

"But how can you say a thing like that and then keep such a big thing secret from me?"

"You've kept secrets from me too!" the anger was eminent in her voice and Draco couldn't help glaring around the corner to look at the two friends. They were standing close to the stonewall facing each other. Hermione's arms were crossed in front of her chest and her brows were knitted together. Potty was standing with his back to Draco, so he couldn't see the expression on his face no matter how hard he tried. He didn't dare use a spell, what if they heard him? No, it was far more interesting to listen to their conversation.

"I have, but you know that I only did that for your own good!" his voice was hushed but Draco could still hear every word clearly.

"Did you ever stop to think that I kept this a secret for the same reason? Just think about, what would you have done if I told you about Draco's feelings for me?"

"Oh, so now he's _Draco_?" Potter whined his name trying to mimic her voice and ignored the question she had asked him. Draco knew the answer to her question though, and he was sure that Potter did too. Scar-head would have tracked him down and _tried _to beat him up. Draco had to fight back a chuckle at the thought of that, and he almost wished that it had happened. He would have liked to fight Potter and see him lose.

"Harry, cut it out," she almost sounded like a mother scolding a naughty child. "You know, you are such a child sometimes!"

"Is that why you feel like my sister?" he asked and still a little whine was traceable in his voice. "Perhaps my big sister or even my mother? Don't start that, I am perfectly able to take care of myself."

Draco heard Hermione sigh, and Draco knew exactly why.

"Really, Harry can we just have a normal conversation? Say what it is you want to say."

"Do you really believe him?" Potter's tone was suddenly almost defeated and there was a definite trace of pity.

"About him being in love with me? Yes, I believe him. About everything else? I'm still waiting to find out about that."

This time it was Potter's turn to sigh. Draco felt like doing the same thing, her words had made him so happy. Perhaps she didn't believe everything that came out of his mouth, he didn't blame her for that. But she believed in his love for her, and that was the most important thing.

"He's just using you," Potter whispered softly, his tone was still coloured with sympathy.

Hermione shook her head slightly, making her curls brush her face in the most wonderful way.

"I don't think so," she said also whispering. "I didn't know him before as I do now, and you have never known him at all."

It felt amazing that this angel was sticking up for him after all the times he had hurt her and made her cry. She truly was an admirable and kind person.

"Is that why you don't want me?" Draco clearly saw the confusion in Hermione's features. "Don't you want to be with me, because you are in love with Malfoy?"

"Harry, I have told you that," suddenly Hermione's voice was the one full of sympathy. "I want you, and you know that. Just only as a friend. You are my best friend, and I don't want that to get ruined."

"You didn't answer my question," Potter pointed out.

"Do you want to know, if I'm in love with Draco? Do you really want to know?"

Potty's head nodded.

"No, I'm not," she answered and Draco felt a surge of self-pity. But he wasn't confident and cocky for nothing so the self-pity didn't last long. He was in the heat with her it couldn't take long for him to make her change her mind. It only took a little charm.

"Good," Potter was suddenly confident. "Then I still have a change. I'm going to give up, Hermione."

"I really wish that you would," Hermione whispered and looked to the ground. Potter obviously didn't want that since he grabbed her chin and forced her to look at his face.

"I know that you love me," he said softly. "You just have your feelings confused. And I understand how that can be, seeing as Malfoy has been getting under your skin with his lies."

"I don't have anything confused, Harry," Hermione said forcefully and freed herself from his grip. "And Draco hasn't _'gotten under my skin'_ either. I really don't think he has been lying to me. And don't say that I don't know my own feelings!"

With that she motioned to leave, choosing to go to the corridor Draco was hiding in. He quickly hid himself from their eyes, which proved to be unnecessary. Potter had stopped her before she could leave.

"It won't be like you and Ron," he promised her, and Draco felt jealous again. Her and Weasley? Had there ever been a _'them'_?

"I promise you that you and I won't have the same problems."

"It doesn't matter what you promise, Harry. There is no way of knowing if it won't end in the same way, and I'm just not willing to take the risk."

Then Draco heard her heels clapping against the stone floor coming closer to where he was. When she turned the corner, her head was bent to look at the floor and she walked right into Draco's hard chest. She looked at him in confusion.

"Draco?" she whispered. "You were listening to us?"

6


	14. Regaining Trust

**Regaining Trust**

He was just waiting for her to get mad. She had a good reason for it. But instead she pressed herself against him, threw her arms around him and buried her face in his robe. For a second he was in shock, having expected something completely different from her. But her reaction was much better than the expected one and he decided to roll with it and put her arms around her, hugging her close into his embrace.

"You're not mad at me?" he whispered.

"Why should I be?" she whispered back without letting go of him.

"I…" he struggle to find the words. "I listened to the two of you talking, and I shouldn't have."

She laughed into his robe, and then she turned her head to meet his eyes.

"Actually that just makes things easier for me," she smiled at him. "I was going to tell you all about it so you could comfort me." She then pressed her head against his chest right above his hammering heart.

"You would?" there was no way of saying those words without the great joy he felt.

"Of course," was her only answer.

"But why come to me when you have… Ginny?"

She looked up at him again with a frown.

"I… I don't know. Normally I would talk to her, but I… I don't know, I guess I don't feel like her kind of talking right now."

"Is my kind better?" he asked with a self-satisfied smile. She laughed back at him.

"Well, for once you don't need to know every single detail. You listen more than you talk. With Ginny it's just the other way around. And I feel safer when you hug me than when she does."

"Figures," Draco said smiling wider than he could ever remember having smiled before. "She's that scrawny and I'm this muscular."

She laughed once again and he joined in.

"Seriously," he said but without wiping of the smirk. "You feel safe with me?"

She nodded her brown eyes big and glittering.

"And to think," he mused "Just yesterday you hated me."

"That was before last night."

"Before my revelation in the Great Hall?"

"No," she answered and freed herself from his grip. "After we said goodnight I returned to my dorm and tried to go to sleep. But I had far too many thoughts to do that." Before continuing she took hold of both his hands and looked him straight in the eyes. "All of my thoughts were concerning you, Draco."

"Good or bad thoughts?" he asked surprisingly concerned.

"Both," she answered truthfully. "They started out as bad, but slowly changed for the better."

"And where did these thoughts lead you?" he asked. "To what conclusion?"

"Well, you heard what I told Harry," she said and watched him nod. "I believe that you are in love with me. I'm still not sure if I can totally trust you, but I am going to give you yet another chance, Draco. Don't screw up again, I am not that forgiving."

"Miss Hermione Jean Granger," he said sincerely "I promise that I will not break whatever kind of trust or faith you have in me, not now and never in the future to come." With those words said he leaned in and without letting go of her hands softly placed a kiss on her lips. It didn't last long, but it held so many emotions that they were both breathless when they drew apart.

"So, erm…" Hermione said sheepishly. "Why… er... what were you doing in this corridor anyway?"

Draco laughed softly before answering, "Looking for you actually. It's quite hard when I don't know the location of the Gryffindor Common Room."

"Well, let's just keep it at that, shall we?" Hermione said with a smile. "As much as I would like to show it to you, I don't think the other Gryffindors would really like you knowing about that."

"Then I guess I'll have to live with that," he said and kissed her palm, never breaking eye contact.

"What were you looking for me for?" she said with a faint blush on her cheeks. The colour her cheeks turned when she blushed was beginning to be Draco's favourite. He could stare at it forever.

"I just needed a pick me up before…" and then he remembered just why he needed her help. "Oh, bugger!" he hissed. "I have to go, I have an exam!" He tried to turn away to leave, but Hermione still had his hands and she held him back.

"Just a second," she whispered. Then she reached up, standing on her toes, to kiss Draco very softly. Immediately all of Draco's angst disappeared like it had never even existed. When they broke apart Hermione was blushing but smiling without any embarrassment.

"Good luck," she whispered before letting go of him. He returned her smile and walked to the DADA exam with a high spirit.

Remembering the kiss she had given him and all their good times together, Hermione was the cause that Draco was able to conjure a corporeal Patronus for the first time in the shape of a lion, the animal he always thought when he thought of her. He made a mental note to thank Hermione for all of her help. But he came to loss trying to figure out, how to thank her in the right way.

He was still thinking about it when he was exiting the classroom.

"Draco!" he heard a lovely and familiar voice call to him.

"Hermione?" he said confused but didn't have the time to think more about it, because suddenly she was jumping into his embrace. He held her tight to him and pressed his nose to her hair. He smelled peaches.

"How did it go?" she asked after breaking away from him. He smiled at her.

"Wonderful," he whispered truthfully. "And it was all thanks to you. Tonight, I will repay you."

She frowned, but still looked incredibly nosy.

"What do you have in mind?" she asked suspiciously.

"Don't you worry," he laughed and hugged her again before turning to leave. "Just meet me under the tree at the Black Lake tonight at around 6 o'clock." He blinked at her. "Wear something nice. I'll be waiting for you." Then he blew her a kiss, laughed at her blush and went to the Slytherin Common Room. He had some things to prepare.

6


	15. Champagne

**Champagne**

It was almost 6 and Draco was pacing back and forth under the tree where he had told Hermione to meet him. He had told Hermione to wear something nice so of course he was also dressed for the occasion. He was wearing black, fitted jeans and a short sleeved, white shirt. His usually slick hair was uncombed and blond locks flowed freely, caressing his pale, thin face.

He had everything planned and ready. He had a blanket laid out on the grass, and he had charmed a dozen candles to soar around the blanket. He had also charmed a little flute to play music none stop. There were usually no flowers in the grass by this time of year but to set the mood, he had conjured some large lilies and placed them in a big vase.

All that was missing now was the girl. He glanced at his watch for the 17th time. It was just a couple of seconds to 6 now. When he looked back up, he saw her coming straight at him.

She had never looked more beautiful, he thought. But it wasn't the empire waist dark blue dress that did the trick. It wasn't the strappy black high heeled shoes that made her legs look unbelievably long. It wasn't her hair that had finally been tamed into big curls. But it was the gleam in her big eyes and the perfect smile on her lips.

He whistled at her and made her turn scarlet red.

"Stop it," she said when she reached him.

"Why should I?" he smirked at her. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you," she looked at her feet, but the smile didn't leave her face. He held out his hand for her, and without a little hesitation she took. Gently he led her to the blanket and he saw her eyes widen when she saw what he had done.

"Oh my," she whispered. "You did all this?" She turned and looked at him with surprised eyes.

"What?" he asked her still smirking widely. "You didn't think I had the brains for this? I may not be on your level, but I'm not that far behind."

"I never thought you were stupid, Draco," she said and squeezed his hand lightly. "I just didn't know this was what you had in mind. It must have taken you quite some time."

"It did," he said and motioned for them to sit down. When they were seated her flicked his wand and summoned a basket of fruit and a bottle of champagne. Hermione stared at him in awe.

"How did you get this?" she asked him.

He laughed before he answered her.

"You know, I can be pretty charming when I have to. The house elves simply love me."

She looked a little stern when he said that, and he suddenly remembered about her S.P.E.W. organisation.

"Don't worry," he hurried and said "I paid them with socks and scarves."

She laughed at that and he took the opportunity to open the champagne bottle and conjure two glasses to fill with the liquid.

"Here you go," he said and handed her one of the glasses.

"Thank you," she answered and took the glass from him, touching his hand slightly as she did. He wasn't sure if she had touched him on purpose or if it was just an accident, but no matter what the touch sent a current of electricity through his arm and to his heart.

"I haven't had this for a very long time," she said and studied the drink. "Not since Bill and Fleur's wedding." She sighed and smiled at him. "You didn't need to know that," she whispered.

"I don't mind," he quickly said. "I want to everything you want to tell me about yourself. Every little detail you feel like sharing with me."

She suddenly looked serious and he got scared that maybe he had said something wrong. But then she leaned towards him and kissed him on the lips. Softly and gently just like the person she was. When the kiss ended he rested his forehead against hers and looked her in the eyes. He felt her happy sigh on his lips and shuttered and the warmth swept over where her lips had just been.

"Thank you," she whispered "that means a lot to me." She began to draw back but Draco wasn't ready for the moment to end. He grabbed the back of her head and kissed her, this time more passionate and aggressive. He loved the feel of her lips, how she breathed into his mouth and how her tongue reacted to his.

"I am so in love with you, Hermione," he whispered when he finally let her go.

"Draco…" she started saying but he stopped her before she could say another word.

"And I love how you say my name," he revealed. "My first name, and not Pureblood prat, ferret or even Malfoy. It sounds so much better when you say than anyone else."

"Draco," she said again but this time made no attempt to continue.

He looked her in the eyes when he moved his hands to her back and made himself lie down pulling her on top of him. She followed him freely and placed her head on his muscular chest. They were still for a while until Hermione finally spoke.

"We are forgetting about the fruit and the champagne," she said but she didn't seem the least bit upset about the loss.

"Hmm," Draco said "I don't really care about that. I only care about us and this moment."

"I know what you mean," she answered in a hushed voice "I spend all last year running from the present and running towards a future I was scared of but knew I had to face." She stopped the words in their tracks, realising that she had just shared something deeply personal. Draco didn't think she wanted him to follow up on it, so instead he went in another direction.

"I spend most of last year fearing for my life, and for my parents. And funnily enough, I also feared for you, and the Wonder Boys. You were what held my family alive. That's why I didn't betray you when you were at the Manor. I wasn't all that much for you, but I knew you were the only ones that could free me from the nightmare my life had become."

Hermione raised her head and studied his face. He saw pity in her eyes but also admiration. She didn't answer him. She only reached out with her hand and began tracing the lines in his face. They had been there for too long, a result of the worrying he had done the last couple of years. But being with Hermione felt like the best medicine ever, like her every move was magical. Slowly the lines faded and he closed his eyes to truly enjoy her fingers on his face. She didn't remove her hands when she kissed him again.

5


	16. The Setting Sun

**The Setting Sun**

Neither of them wanted the kiss to end, but it became necessary to breath at one point or another. When their lips parted they were panting for breath and looking deep in each other's eyes. Draco reached up and slowly started stroking her cheek. Then he leaned up and kissed her forehead, her nose, her cheek, her jaw, her chin and ended on her neck. When he heard the sharp intake of breath from her, he stopped the kissing, fearing that he had gone too far. He laid his head back down and searched her eyes. To his immense surprise, he saw confusion and disappointment clouding the look she sent him. This actually kind of pleased him and he decided not to continue the game, even though he really wanted to. Instead he pulled her down to him so her head once again rested on his chest.

"I love you," he whispered to her. Finally saying the words made his heart jump and scream in joy, and he was sure that she heard it. "I love you." He had to say the words again. The feeling he got from saying them felt almost like a drug, and he was getting addicted. But nothing was better than what he heard her whisper in return.

"I think I'm in love with you."

It took nothing else for his heart to almost pound its way out of his chest. He tried to calm himself and think rationally, but she made it harder for him when she placed her slender hand over his racing heart.

"Wow," she sighed "your heart is beating really fast."

"I know," he chuckled and put his hand over hers. "It's your fault, you know."

She laughed a little, but went quiet soon after.

"What did you mean with _'you think'_ you're in love with me?" he finally dared to ask her.

"Well," she said "I haven't had these feelings since…" She then stopped talking as if she realised that she had said something stupid. Draco felt the sudden tension in her shoulders.

"Since when…" he gently urged her on. When she didn't answer he chose to take the lead. "Is this about you and Weasley?"

"You know about that?" wonder was painted in her voice.

"You forget," Draco said with a slight smile "that I listened in on you and Potter talking."

"Oh, right," she sighed. "Well, yeah. It didn't work out between us."

"I didn't mean to pry," he said hastily.

"You didn't," she answered him. "I just wanted to say that I haven't felt like I do now since I first got together with Ron. But that wasn't love, I know that now. And this feels much more intense." She trailed of when Draco's fingers curled around hers.

"That's good to know," he said. "But please promise me something."

"Okay," she said breathlessly.

"Please don't ever compare me to Weasley ever again!"

At that they both laughed.

"Okay, I promise," she said when the laughs had run dry. "So what now?"

"Now we just talk about everything we want to," he answered. "And occasionally we kiss because we think we are in love."

"Don't tease me," she laughed nervously and tried to get free of his embrace, but Draco felt that her struggle wasn't full-hearted and just pulled her even closer.

"Oh, but you like being teased, you just don't want to admit it," he said and pressed a kiss to her hair when she stopped wiggling around.

"Hmph," was her only reply followed by a little pout.

"You know," Draco smirked "you look sexy when you do that."

"Do what?" Hermione asked and turned her head to look at him.

"When you purse your lips like that."

She smiled wickedly at him and said, "Like this?" and pouted again.

"Oh yeah!" Draco laughed and bent to kiss her pouted lips swiftly.

She laid her head back down on his chest with her ear pressed against the resting place of his heart. Unconsciously she started fingering with the buttons on his shirt. When she flicked one open he felt the soft skin of her fingers brush against his bare chest. The feeling kicked his heart in gear and got it pounding all over again. Of course Hermione instantly knew what happened; she had her ear against his chest, for Merlin's sake! And then she just laughed softly at him. When her laughed faded away, she stuck a finger into the hole she had created in his shirt once again, but this time she didn't just swiftly touch him. Her finger lingered on his skin and traced unknown and invisible patterns over the part of his chest that she could reach. Draco felt his breath become more ragged and his body was slowly tensing up. Before he could do anything stupid to scare her away, like throwing her to the ground and ripping her dress off, he took her hand and brought her fingers, one by one, to his lips, taking his time as he kissed every single one. But he didn't think of the button that was still open and revealed his skin to the last light of the sun but also to her breath, which now suddenly touched his sensitive skin. The feeling of that was even worse than her fingers and it took all of his strength to not just take her right there and claim her for his own. When he let go of her hand again he hurried and closed the button before he could lose everything he had worked so hard to gain.

"Let's watch the sunset," he whispered in her ear. With little effort he pushed both of them into a sitting position with her still resting against his shoulder.

"That sounds lovely," she whispered back and turned her head towards the setting sun.

While Hermione was watching the sun, Draco had his eyes on other sights. The last rays of the dyeing sun softly caressed Hermione's face in a way that made her features look even more angelic than usually. Suddenly her hair wasn't just chestnut brown but also had shades of deep red and orange in it. Her pale skin was almost luminescent and see-through making her seem like a wonder from another world.

"I thought you wanted to see the sunset," she softly commented without looking away.

"Why would I do that?" he asked and moved his hand from around her shoulder to gently lie against her hip. "I have something even more beautiful in front of me."

"I thought you said that you weren't a sappy romantic?" she commented sounding slightly amused.

"Well, if you think back to that day, you will remember that I also said that you bring it out in me."

"I remember," she whispered and he saw a smile form on her sensual lips. "Oh look," she said and pointed to the sun. "It's happening now." And just as Draco turned to watch, the sun disappeared behind one of the mountains surrounding the Castle.

"We should end every day like this," he whispered.

"Sitting out here even when we don't go to school here anymore or when it's snowing?" she joked with him. "I'm not sure if that's such a good idea."

"That's not what I meant," he said "and you know it. I mean, we should end every day together in one way or another."

Hermione turned around in his arms and studied his face with a little smile.

"That would be nice," she whispered and kissed him. Without breaking the kiss Draco laid down again and pulled her with him, but before his back hit the blanket, Hermione made a sudden turn and she was beneath him. She landed on the blanket with him lying on top of her. He held himself up with a hand on each side of her so that he wouldn't crush her, but when her hands found their way to his hair he let go and gave into the sensation.

_Okay, so I know the last chapter was kind of short, but I was low in imagination. Luckily the ending was quite open, so I had the opportunity to write more about their romantic dinner. I know that they are both OOC, but at this point I don't really care anymore. The characters are evolving and they are doing it the way I want it and that's that. But please feel free to reviews so I can hear your thoughts. It's a little hard for me to hear them through your head AND through the computer._

6


	17. Two Worlds Colliding

**Two Worlds Colliding**

"Oh, I really don't feel like exams," Hermione moaned.

"What?" Draco asked teasingly and turned her around in his arms. "Did my ears just deceive me? Did Hermione Jean Granger just say that she wasn't up for exams?"

"I know, I know," she laughed and moved a little to find a better way to sit. The staircase in front of the Castle wasn't the most comfortable place to sit, even if you were sitting between your kind-of-boyfriend's legs and leaning against his torso. "But I would much rather be here."

"Normally that would be considered a compliment," he said smiling down at her. "But everything would be better than exams."

"But to me, nothing is ever really better than exams," she cocked her head to look at him. "So it's a huge compliment coming from me."

"I guess you're right," he gave in kissed her on the forehead. The moment seemed as perfect as the many they had had the night before, but of course one of her moron friends had to ruin it.

"Hey, Malfoy!" a voice growled behind them. "Watch it."

Draco recognised the voice without even looking he had grown used to it over the years.

"Is that really the best you have, Weasley?" he asked, not letting go of Hermione.

"No, it's not," he said hesitantly. "But that's what I'm willing to say with Hermione here."

"Ron, please," she said, moved out of Draco's grasp and stood up. His arms felt strangely empty, as if he had grown used to having her body pressed against his own. The last night they had laid together under the starry sky for what felt like hours, but of course that wasn't so. In Draco's mind it had been the perfect first date.

"Please what?" Ron snickered. "Save you from this snake? Sure, I would love to." With that he grabbed Hermione's upper warm and tried to drag her of, but Hermione put her heals to the ground.

"No, Ronald!" she said fiercely. "That's not what I meant."

Weasley pretended to not hear her and kept pulling at her arm.

"Ron, really! Let go of me!"

"Hermione," Weasel stopped pulling at her and looked at her like she was a confused and distraught little child. "We don't trust Malfoy."

Draco saw the emotional conflict in her face and quickly moved to put his arm around her waist for support, moral as well as physical.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked her best friend. "Who are 'we'?"

"'We' are me and Harry," Ron was close to yelling but he kept it as quiet as he could. "And up until recently 'we' also included you." When he said the last part Draco heard the hurt in his voice.

Obviously Hermione also sensed that something was wrong and her angry expression changed to one of sorrow.

"What are you saying?" she whispered, making Draco hold on to her even tighter.

Weasley took a step closer to Hermione, ignoring Draco the best he could.

"We miss you, Hermione," his voice was also only a whisper. "Nothing has really been the same with us lately."

She sighed and looked at her feet before she answered him.

"Nothing has been the same since you and I split up, Ron," she said "and that was a long time ago."

"I know," Weasley said and stepped closer once again. Suddenly Draco was afraid that he was going to lose Hermione. She had been with this guy before and they were best friends. What kind of claim did he himself have over her? He, who had always treated her like the dirt he walked on, how could she ever give herself to him? "I know we didn't work as a couple. But that's no reason why we can't work as friends."

"Exactly," Hermione said and snapped her face upwards to look Weasley in the eyes. "I have never claimed to be anything that your friends!" Draco recognised the look in her eyes. He knew that the gleam meant that she felt mistreated or misunderstood.

"But you have!" Weasley defended himself.

"How?" Hermione was on the verge of yelling now. "When?!"

"When you chose Malfoy over us!"

Instantly Hermione's body went stiff. Draco didn't know what to do, but he knew what to expect. She was really mad now.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" she yelled at him.

Weasley's face turned red all of a sudden, even his ears matched his hair.

"Well, that's what you did!" he responded also yelling. "You chose to be with him, knowing how much we hate him!" The redhead looked towards Draco for the first time since he started talking to Hermione. His eyes, Draco observed, swam with furry and contempt.

"You only hate him because you don't know him!" Hermione defended Draco and placed her hand on the one of his that was holding on to her waist. "You hate him because of who you _think_ he is!"

"No, I know who he is!" the angry boy yelled back at his best friend. "I know that he could never love you the way Harry and I do!"

"You don't know anything, Ronald! You are just being stubborn and childish!"

"Oh, look who's talking!"

"And what does that mean?!"

"You are even more stubborn than I am!"

"I am not, where did you get that from?"

"Guys," Draco tried to calm them down. Hermione was the only one that responded, shooting a quick glance at him and sighing. Weasel was still in the clouds of anger, his hands balled up into fists and his ears red like fire.

"Hermione, you have to choose!" Weasley said to her, a little more calmly than before. "You can't have it all. Either you have Harry and I or you have the ferret Malfoy."

"Ronald, don't do this," Hermione was back to the whisper again. Hearing anxiety like this coming from the bravest and strongest person he knew made Draco feel more uneasy than ever before in his life. "Ron, please don't do this to me. Don't make me choose between you. How could I do that?"

Weasley snorted.

"I would say that was fairly easy," he said concealing his anger better than before. "You pick your friends since we have been there for you every day during the last eight year. We have been there every time this ferret, who claims to love you, has made you cry. You pick your friends because friends are forever."

Then he turned and walked away. As soon as he was gone, Hermione buried her head in Draco's cloak and started crying silently. There was nothing else he could do than to hold tightly onto her, stroke her curls and kiss her hair. Slowly she calmed down.

"Now I really don't feel like exams," he heard her whisper. The defeat in her voice almost made his heart break and he hugged her even closer, not caring that his cloak got wet from her tears.

"We'll work it out," he whispered to her, his brain working full speed trying to figure out just how that was to be done. "We'll think of some way. But for now you have to dry your eyes and get to your Arithmancy exam."

He gently pushed her out of his hold and looked her in the eyes. Even when they were red and puffy they were absolutely stunning and the strength in them was breathtaking.

"Don't worry," he whispered and brushed a tear away from her cheek. "I'll think of some way for you to keep both your friends and me."

"Thank you," she whispered and tried to smile and be brave. But the defeat hadn't disappeared from her face and he feared that she didn't really believe that there was any way around the choice she had been presented with. He knew what she would chose if the choice was inevitable. And the pick wasn't going to be him.

"I _will_ think of something," he repeated and kissed her hair. Then he took her hand and followed her to her final exam.

_There were some of you that requested more Ron, so I thought a little about it and decided that of course there was going to be more of him, because of course he wouldn't accept Hermione and Draco's relationship and neither would Harry. So I wrote this to show that. Tell me what you think about it, I don't read minds through computers… but how cool would that be?!_

7


	18. Unexpected Help

**Unexpected Help**

The next morning Draco still didn't know what to do. After Hermione's exam they had decided to spend the rest of the day apart so she could talk to her friends and he could come up with some clever plan. His job was not easy at all, and he feared that Hermione's was even worse. Draco's head was full of thoughts of losing her, and the thoughts over clouded every single plan that started to form in his mind. It was Wednesday of their last week at Hogwarts. Friday night was the final feast and Saturday morning the train left for London. He wished for nothing more than to be on the train with Hermione's head in his lap, listening to her even breath. But as things were that fantasy seemed like it would have to remain a fantasy.

He felt defeated as he walked to the Great Hall. His appetite was gone and his friends ignored him, as they had done ever since he declared his love for the _'Mudblood'_. Just thinking the foul word made Draco shudder. He felt disgusted with himself that he had ever said that word. At the Slytherin table he sat alone, bend far over the table, head in his hands and a deep furrow in his forehead. He wasn't going to let Hermione down, not again.

"Hey," a somewhat familiar voice came from above. Draco didn't feel like talking to anyone, except Hermione, so he just waved at whoever it was for the person to leave him alone. But the gesture had the opposite effect and a tall, thin person with long red hair sat down next to him.

"Okay, this is weird," the person said, almost laughing. Draco looked at the person and saw the Weasley girl. He frowned and became slightly annoyed.

"What do you want?" he snapped at her, and placed his head in his hands again.

"Way to show me you have changed," the girl noted and reached for a piece of toast.

"I don't feel like being the new me right now," he said, not caring if he hurt her. His mood was just as low as his appetite.

"Well, I think you should try," the red haired girl noted while she buttered her bread. "I actually came here to help you."

The words made Draco's head snap up to look at her. Was she kidding him?

"Help me?" he asked voice full of wonder.

"Okay," the girl admitted "not really you. Hermione actually."

"And how does you talking to me help Hermione?" he asked, still suspicious.

"Hermione is my best friend and I know her better than most people. I know when she is happy and I know when she is upset. After her date with you, she was happy. When she returned from her exam yesterday, she was sad."

"Get to the point," Draco was getting impatient, as it often happened when he was grumpy.

"The point is; she is happy when she is with you and now my stupid brother is keeping her from being happy, because he is keeping you from her. So I want to help you so you can be together. Does it make sense now?"

Draco snorted but still saw the logic.

"And how to you think you can help?"

"I don't really know yet, but two heads are better than one."

She saw the quizzical look in Draco's eyes and sighed.

"It's a Muggle saying. My dad is full of them."

"Whatever," Draco answered. "So you want to help me, you just don't know _how_ to help me. Thanks Weasley, you sure made my day." Sarcasm was the best defence mechanism, no doubt about that. But Ginny saw right through him.

"Quit it," she snapped. "Get a grip and stop that whole last name thing!"

"Fine…" he said and hesitantly added "Ginny."

"Good, now let's get to business," Ginny said and took a bite of her bread. Watching her eat made Draco a little hungry and he took an apple and neatly cut it into small pieces.

"I actually talked to Harry last night," Ginny casually said. "His not that bad, you know."

He grinded his teeth but didn't answer.

"I know that he thinks he is in love with Hermione," she continued not realising that she was making Draco angry. "But he didn't have anything to do with the whole _'you-have-to-choose'_-thing. That was all my brother."

"I don't care," Draco said. "He has been pressuring her, you know?"

"I know," Ginny sighed. "But he really is a fair guy. He has just been through a lot, and I think he needs someone to depend on. And he has decided that that person should be Hermione."

"Can't he just settle for her as a friend?"

"He needs someone to depend on _totally_," Ginny answered.

"Wasn't he your boyfriend once?" Draco couldn't resist the urge to rub her nose in it, but Ginny didn't seem to mind.

"Yes, he was," she answered. "And that's how I know that he is a good guy. And that he is not in love with Hermione he just needs her and is afraid to lose her."

"You know, that doesn't really help me all that much," Draco noted and took a piece of the apple and ate it.

"I know," she said "but let me just get back to the point. I talked to Harry last night."

"Oh yeah," he said sarcastic "I want to hear _all_ about your little talk with Potty Wonder Boy!"

Ginny caught on to the joke and brought her fist to his upper arm with strength Draco had never imagined coming from the frail looking girl, but then again she did grow up with 6 brothers. He was sure the punch was going to leave a mark.

"You _should_ want to hear it!" she hissed at him. "It was fairly informative."

"Fine," Draco sulked "tell me."

Ginny seemed pleased when she continued.

"I had just talked to Hermione and she told me about your talk with Ron," Draco's eyes narrowed, her tone implied that it was going to be a speech. "Well, I couldn't find Ron to beat the living crap out of him for doing something like that to Hermione, so I found Harry instead. He was sitting alone in the Common Room, so I went to confront him. It turned out that Harry had absolutely nothing to do with the ultimatum. It was all Ron's idea. Then we talked a little about Harry's feelings for Hermione." Draco winced at that but Ginny pretended not to notice.

"I asked him, how and when his feelings had changed towards Hermione," she continued and Draco wondered if this was what was usually referred to as _'girl talk'_. "When I asked that Harry didn't really have an answer, which confirmed my theory, you know the one I told you earlier. I then asked Harry if he was really sure that he had romantic feelings for Hermione or if it was just a need for her he had. He didn't know what to answer, but I noticed that he looked more and more confused."

Draco was now paying much more attention than he was when the speech started. He suddenly saw an opening that the Ginny girl clearly hadn't realized was there. And where there was an opening there was a solution.

"Well, then I asked him, if he felt for Hermione what he had felt for me when we were together. This he could actually answer and I think the answer startled him. He shook his head."

'_Yup,' _Draco thought triumphantly _'there is my opening.'_

"What happened after that?" he urged her on.

"A lot, really," she said and Draco felt that she was done sharing. "We talked a lot, and then we decided to give our relationship a second change." At the last she smiled.

"You got that out of talking?" Draco asked with raised eyebrows.

"Well," Ginny said and smiled wickedly. "We did other things too." Then she giggled and turned her head away.

"I'm glad you told me this," Draco said. He couldn't bring himself to actually say _'thank you'_ to the girl. That was still too weird.

"I'm happy to help," she replied and took a second slice of toast.

"You do know," Draco said "that this is our plan, don't you?"

Ginny looked questioningly at him.

"Harry Potter is the answer," he explained and saw the comprehension dawn in her eyes.

"Keep going," she said.

"If I understand the whole Golden Trio thing correctly," Draco said "then Potter is like the leader and Weasley does what he says."

Ginny didn't look all too happy with his way of describing her boyfriend and brother, but she nodded anyway.

"Well, you just work your magic with Potter and convince him to talk to Weasley about the ultimatum."

"I don't know…" Ginny said. "I don't think it's that easy. I mean, no offence, but both Harry and Ron really hate you. No matter how much they love Hermione, they won't just suddenly like you because she does."

"But you tolerate me," he pointed out. "Are they more stubborn than you are?"

"Yes," she said without hesitating. "They are when it comes to you."

"Then you just have to talk to them!" he said. "Tell them that they don't have to be my best friends or anything. They just have to realize that I'm not as bad as I used to be!"

Draco felt desperation in his stomach. This was his only shot, his only window to keep Hermione in his life. All his hopes rested on this girl, who only tolerated him because her best friend was in love with him.

"I could try," she said thoughtfully. "Perhaps I could stage a kind of intervention with Hermione as well." She sat in silence for a while, nibbling on her toast while she was thinking.

"I'll talk to Hermione and tell her your idea," she finally said. "If she thinks it could work, then we'll do it."

Draco sighed in relief. He was glad that she had decided to include Hermione. He trusted her more than he trusted Ginny.

"Then I'll just go," she said and got up. "I'll see you when I see you." Then she waved at him and left.

Draco followed her with his eyes. Perhaps she wasn't all that bad? She went back to the Gryffindor table and sat next to Hermione. He saw her whisper something in her ear. When she was done, Hermione turned to look at Draco. She was smiling at him and holding a thumb in the air. She approved of the idea. The situation was out of his hands, he had to rely on the woman he loved and her best friend.

9


	19. Thinking and Pacing

**Thinking and Pacing**

Wow, waiting was _definitely_ not fun! In fact, nothing could be worse. Draco turned around in his bed. If only there had been something to take his mind of things. But there was absolutely nothing. No finals to study for, no friends to talk to and no Hermione to kiss. He was stuck in his dorm thinking about what was happening somewhere else in the castle.

He had tried imagining the scene. Hermione and Ginny talking to Potter and Weasley, convincing them to allow Hermione to date him. But it didn't really work. First of all he had no idea what the Gryffindor Common Room looked like. And then he didn't know Potter or Weasley well enough to guess, how they were going to respond. Would they be mad? Would they be sad? He was quite sure that they weren't going to be happy. But would they be generous enough to allow Hermione to be happy? Even if _'happy' _meant Draco Malfoy going wherever she went?

The thoughts were to over whelming for his head. There were too many _'if's _for his liking. Nothing was for certain at all, nothing was carved in stone.

Before he got too depressed he got up and started pacing about in the room. He needed a plan for what to do, if this one didn't work out. Only problem was that this plan seemed like the only thing there was to do. It was clear to him that Hermione wasn't going to chose him, if Weasley _did_ make her go through with the ultimatum. She wasn't going to pick a fling over her friends through the last eight years with whom she had endured death, trial and triumph, not even if the fling considered her the love of his life. She wasn't that girl and it was one of the things Draco loved about her.

So, if she didn't pick him, what was there left for him? The easy thing to do would be to blame his parents for raising him to be who he had been. But that would be the same as quitting, and that wasn't really Draco's thing. He had only once before quitted and that was when he was supposed to kill Dumbledore. And it turned out that that was the best thing he could do. But when it came to his one love, giving up was really not an option.

Having established that her friends weren't going to keep him from pursuing Hermione made him feel more at ease and he sat down on the bed again, one leg over the other, elbow on his knee and chin in his hand. He would be persistent, he decided. There was just one thing about that. How to be persistent without making her sad?

If he ever had to be persistent it would be because she would have chosen her friends over him. So how could he keep coming after her without making her feel bad or making her friends angry? The new problem frustrated Draco even more than the former and he resumed pacing. Why did she have to have so annoying friends?

But then he realised that her friends really weren't the problem. They were actually really good friends who cared so much about her that they would shield her from everything even her own heart. No, the problem was him. Who he had once been, there was the problem.

He had been the one making her eyes red and puffy from tears and he had been the one calling her names and trying to degrade her. He wasn't proud of that, not anymore anyway. If he hadn't ever been that person, he might even have been on friendly terms with her friends. Perhaps they would even be happy that she fell in love with him. If she had fallen for Dean Thomas or Seamus Finnegan perhaps they would have been fine with that. But she had fallen for Draco Malfoy, a Slytherin, former Dead Eater and an enemy for life. And that was the real problem. Him.

Realising that was no walk on roses. Or no, it actually was. A walk on thorned roses, and with every step he took a new thorn entered his foot, and the old ones entered his flesh even deeper than before. He felt like he was dragging blood in his steps when he went to sit on the floor leaning heavily against the wall.

So, he was the real problem. Great. But admitting that didn't change anything. He had changed, yes, but he didn't expect Harry and Ron to accept that change right of the back. He had been an arse for far too long. A sudden change after eight years of being a bastard? Not really convincing.

With every minute passing life seemed darker and glummer, and there was nothing at all Draco could do to change it. He had placed himself in this horrible situation, and then he couldn't even get himself out of it. For that he had to rely on two young witches.

He had to remind himself that the situation wasn't only horrible for him. He was sure that neither Hermione, Harry nor Ron were enjoying themselves much more than he was. He realised that he actually kind of admired Ron and Harry. They put themselves through a hard and awkward situation to protect a person they loved. That thought made Draco wonder if he would be able to do the same thing? Or was he too selfish?

He was used to getting what he wanted, and what he wanted, not just at the moment but forever, was Hermione. But if he couldn't have her right now, would he be willing to give her up to spare her the hurt of him still wanting her? He had already decided to go after her no matter what, but was that really the way to go? It was going to hurt Hermione in the end, one way or the other. Could he be able to let her go, so she could get on with her life as if he had never touched it?

Without him wanting it to happen, he felt tears fall from his eyes to his cheeks. He loved her, for Merlin's sake! He loved her, but if he couldn't have her, did he love her enough to give her life back to her? Or did he love himself more?

The thought frustrated him beyond belief, because he didn't have the answer. He just didn't know if he was strong enough to stay away from her. Why was love so hard, anyway? It was supposed to be simple as Hell! Perhaps a little bump on the road but nothing so major that love couldn't fix it.

Okay, that was it! No more worrying about _'perhaps' _or _'if'_. He was going to do something completely new and different. He was going to be optimistic. He trusted Hermione and he had faith in her. Of course she could convince her friends that being with him was the best thing for her. She was going to make them see that they didn't have to love him they only had to trust him a little and give him a chance. They _had to_ give him a chance considering all the things he had done for Hermione lately. And Potter had a girlfriend now perhaps his heart would have a soft spot for love.

Yes, everything was going to perfect, he told himself over and over again until he fell asleep sitting against the wall. Love conquers all.

4


	20. Chance

**Chance**

"Malfoy, we need a word with you!" the voice coming from behind was quite familiar but not as angry or mocking as usually. It was more concerned. When he turned around he saw Potter and Weasley coming towards him. He stopped on his way to the Great Hall for dinner.

"What about?" he asked, but knew exactly what their answer was going to be.

"About Hermione," Potter answered when the guys had caught up with him. "We had a talk with her earlier today."

"I know," Draco admitted, looking Potter deep in the eyes.

"Oh," he said. "It was probably your idea, wasn't it?"

"As a matter of fact it was," Draco said.

"But that's not what we are here to talk about," Weasley interrupted, arms crossed over his chest and a look in his eyes that could cut through Draco's bones.

"Then let's get to it," Draco said and waved at the bench under the nearby window. Potter and Draco sat down while Weasley remained standing in front of them. The silence was all around them, and Draco questioningly looked from the one to the other. He noticed how Potter was looking intently at Weasley and Draco moved his eyes to watch him. It was quite funny actually. Weasel was practically squirming and biting his bottom lip.

"Ron…" Potter's voice was slightly pushy and edgy.

"Fine," Weasley sulked. "First you need to know, that I really love Hermione."

"As do I," Draco suddenly felt the need to protect himself.

"Yeah, so you claim," Weasley shot back. Potter cleared his throat loudly.

"I know, I know," Weasley said and rolled his eyes. "So, Hermione talked to us. And she made me see…" He trailed off and looked at Potter with pleading puppy eyes.

"Go on," Potter said with a little smile.

"She made me see that I was wrong about making her choose." The words were said with a pout of his bottom lip. "This doesn't mean that I like you!" He added hastily.

"Yeah, me neither," Potter said.

"Cool, I don't like you either," Draco said and shot his hands in the air in a defensive manner.

"Well, then…" Potter started mumbling. "We should just try to be civil with each other. For Hermione."

"For Hermione," Weasley repeated.

"For Hermione," Draco said. Then they stared at each other for an awkward moment before Draco turned around and left them.

They had already agreed that they weren't friends and that they didn't even like each other. So they didn't have to walk to dinner together. They had a truce now, meaning that he could once again be with the woman that meant the most to him. Just thinking about all the things he was now free to do with Hermione made him smile and almost laugh out loud in joy.

He had barely entered the Hall before a short girl with bushy hair flowing behind her threw herself into his arms laughing loudly. He hugged her close to him, picked her up from the floor and twirled her around, making her laugh even louder and himself chuckle.

"They gave in!" she said when he had sat her down again.

"I know," he smiled and kissed her hungrily. At that the whole Hall broke out in applause, but this time neither of them ran away. Instead Draco kissed her once more, not marking his territory but showing his love to the entire school.

"How did you know?" Hermione curiously asked him the applause became more silent.

"We talked to him," Potter's voice came from behind. Draco turned to face him, still with Hermione in his arms. A sudden fear that they had regretted their decision gripped Draco's heart and he held Hermione tight to his body. But Potter had a silent laugh in his eyes, and Draco instantly felt more relaxed when he noticed that.

"Nice move, Malfoy," He said and went to sit at the Gryffindor table next to his girlfriend.

Weasley made no move to sit down but only stared at Hermione in Draco's arms.

"Anything we can do for you, Weasley?" Draco asked him not pleasantly. He didn't answer, didn't even turn his head away from Hermione, and then he moved to join Potter and his sister.

Slightly shrugging his shoulder Draco returned his attention to the beauty in his arms. He saw that she was frowning a little, but he didn't dare ask what it was about.

"Do you want to eat with me?" he asked her instead and watched as her face was crowned with a big grin.

"Of course," she answered and took his hand. Draco squeezed it and turned to the Slytherin table, intending to sit there with his love. But every person at his House table was eyeing him with threats of death or worse if he thought about joining them. He sighed, suddenly he was an outcast.

"Don't worry," Hermione whispered to him and lead him to the Gryffindor table. People there weren't exactly thrilled to dine with him, but they didn't try to stare him to death either, so he liked this table better than his own.

They sat alone without anyone around them, but neither of them cared about that. They had enough in each other. Draco studied Hermione's face intently as she filled her plate with mashed potatoes. The frown was back, he noticed.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, unable to hold the question any longer. She looked up at him and she seemed to be in conflict with herself.

"You called him Weasley," she finally blurted out, and the absurdity of the remark made him confused.

"So?" he asked her.

"Do you have to do that?" she asked him looking a little worried. "I mean, you need to try to get along with him and Harry as well. Couldn't you just call them by their names?"

"But, Potter called me Malfoy," he didn't mean to use… Harry's last name but if was an old habit.

"I know," she sighed. "But one of you has to break the circle. You could be the bigger man here."

Draco sighed as he surrendered.

"Okay," he said beaten. "I will call them by their names."

Hermione smiled triumphantly at that and began eating. For a while Draco didn't even think of food, all he could do was watch Hermione eat.

"Stop that," she said and ripped him from his fantasies about her. "You are creeping me out, you know."

"Sorry," Draco blushed and focused on the food in front of him. "I was just thinking," he said before beginning to eat.

This sparked Hermione's curiosity.

"About what?" she asked with a _must-know_ gleam in her big eyes.

"Just this ongoing fantasy I have," he answered, knowing that the answer was vague enough to make her a little mad.

"What fantasy?" she asked him, even more curios than before.

"About you," he answered her plainly. And he knew that she was beginning to become irritated.

"What about me?" Yes, the irritation was definitely there.

"You and me alone in our own compartment on the Hogwarts train," he said without even looking at her, aware that he wouldn't be able to keep his face if he looked at hers.

"And what then?" she asked impatiently.

"You'll just have to wait and see till we're on the train," he answered and couldn't keep back a laugh.

"You are pure evil, Draco Malfoy," Hermione laughed and threw her napkin at him, making him laugh even more than before.

"That's why you love me," he laughed and winked at her.

_Okay I just want to say something very briefly about the previous chapter. That was a practise chapter to do something completely different and hopefully deeper and more meaningful.__ And that was all I had to say about that._

_Then I just want to take the time to thank all of those who have reviewed this story, it feels really good to know what you guys are thinking about my work. It makes writing this worth all the irritation when it just doesn't work out the way it should. So please keep reviewing and I guarantee that the chapter will come faster… or I really hope that I can guarantee that… we'll see. _

_Maja_

8


	21. Truth Telling in the Library

**Truth Telling in the Library **

The time of their departure was coming fast. Draco sighed heavily as he thought about not being with Hermione every day. The girl in question felt the sigh, seeing as she was lying with her head on his chest, and raised her head to meet his eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked him with a little furrow on her forehead. He laughed a little at her question. She had been tolerating him for the shortest time, and she could already sense when his thoughts were dark or his heart was heavy. He took as a sign of how right they were for each other.

"What?" she asked him, smiling a little.

"Nothing," he continued laughing. "I was just thinking."

"About what?" she asked curiously.

"It doesn't matter, it was silly."

"Okay," she smiled and returned to her former position. "You know, you are king of broody sometimes. But… I kind of like it."

They laughed together again, but too soon the laugh turned into another sigh from Draco.

"Really," she said and suddenly sounded slightly annoyed as she sat upright looking down at him. "What are you think about?"

"I was just thinking about going home," he answered truthfully.

"And that makes you sigh so much that I can't keep my head on your chest because…?" she looked searchingly into his eyes.

"Because when we leave this place, we won't be together anymore." He knew he had chosen the wrong words as soon as they had left his tongue. "I didn't mean it like it came out."

She smiled but didn't say anything, silently urging him to tell her, what he really wanted to say.

"What I meant was," he said and sat up to face her "is that we won't be together like this, you know? All the time, I mean."

"But we've been like that before," she commented.

"Yeah, but that was back when I was an arse and you hated everything about me," he smiled.

"Okay, but the way you are describing us," she pointed out "has only been going on for a day and a half. We were together all of yesterday and today, but today isn't even over yet."

"So, it's a crime to be missing something you've only had for two days?" he asked her.

"It is when you haven't lost it yet," she answered him.

"But I don't want to lose it at all," he almost wined now. "That's what's really troubling me."

Hermione laughed at him and hugged his head to her chest. The whole situation suddenly seemed absurd and ridiculous to him and he started laughing as well.

"You have a great logic, Hermione," he said when they were both done laughing. Then he kissed her collarbone and drew away from her. She was smiling widely at him.

"Well, people have been saying that for a while now," she said. "But it's nice to hear that you have finally admitted that you think the same."

They were sitting together on the floor of a corner in the library as they had done for the last two hours. Draco had rightfully searched for her in there, when she wasn't present at breakfast. She was sitting in their corner, as Draco was secretly calling it. She was sitting in there, studying and looking all serious. He really liked her like that. He had watched her until she dropped her quill on the floor. He had rushed over to pick it up, not realizing that she had already bent down to do the same. As it always happened in the movies, their heads clunked together. He fell backwards on his arse and Hermione fell of her chair and right into his arms. They hadn't moved since.

"So," Hermione finally said, after they had been sitting together in silence for a while. "Want to be my date for the Final Feast?"

"I didn't know you needed a date for that," Draco commented with a sly smile.

"You don't," she admitted. "But that doesn't keep me from wanting one. Or you, to be correct."

"You want me?" he asked her and leaned closer to her, their noses almost touching and her hair tickling his cheek and chin. He gave her his most devilish smile and stared her right in the eyes. He saw how the chocolate eyes became slightly hazy.

"You…" she whispered and choked on the rest of her words.

"I what?" he asked her and swirled a frizzy curl around his finger, pulling it a little.

"You know I do," she finished her former sentence and blushed to a lovely and adorable shade of pink.

"I know," he laughed silently. "But it's nice to hear you say it." Then he kissed her passionately, one hand behind her head, crushing her lips against his, the one on the small of her back pushing urging her closer, needing her closer.

"Oh God," Hermione breathed when their lips were no longer joined.

"I know," Draco struggled to breathe right. "We should do that more often."

"I don't know about that," Hermione said and Draco looked questioningly at her.

"Why not?"

"It would kill us," she said and started laughing again. Draco joined in. He had never in his entire life laughed as much as he had done the few times he had been with Hermione. But he felt like a whole new person, a better person and a happier person.

"So, are you feeling better about leaving tomorrow?" she asked him.

He took her hands and moved them to hold his waist. He then reached for her shoulders and pulled her to him.

"No," he answered when she had placed her head lightly over his heart. "But I am excited about the train ride."

At this Hermione tensed up and tried to pull away, but Draco just laughed it off and held her even closer.

"Come on!" she said impatiently. "Why can't you just tell me what you have in mind for the train?"

"Because," he said still laughing. "It's way to fun to keep teasing you like this with it."

"But it's really not fair," she said.

"You know me. Have I ever played fair?"

"No, that's one thing you have never done before."

Draco bit his bottom lip at her words, and wondered if he should tell her his secret. He had vowed to be a better man for her, and didn't that include being honest with her? He took a very deep breath.

"Actually, it's not the only thing I haven't done before." He said the words hesitantly, still not knowing if really wanted to tell her.

"What is the other thing?" she asked quietly, sensing his discomfort.

"Sex," he answered and didn't fight back when she drew away from him and looked at him with knitted eyebrows.

"What are you saying?" she asked confused.

"I'm a virgin, Hermione."

_So, tell me what you think about this chapter. _

_I really want to thank all of my former reviewers; you have all made this chapter really easy writing. And not just that, knowing that you like the story has made it fun to keep writing. But I have to say, that I don't think the story is going to continue much longer. It was the plan right from the beginning to end the story when they left Hogwarts, and since this chapter takes places the day before their departure, I don't think there will much more to write._

6


	22. Loving Words

**L****oving Words**

She looked at him with stunned eyes and an open mouth.

"Are you serious?" she breathed, searching his every feature for evidence that he was just teasing her.

"I'm dead serious," Draco answered and grabbed both her hands with his own. "Hermione, I've never had sex."

Hermione looked at him silently for a while. Draco saw in her face, how hard she was thinking and trying to process the new piece of information. Finally she looked at ease once more and smiled at him.

"Neither have I," she said and kissed his cheek softly.

"That's it?" now Draco was the one confused. What had happened to her never-ending curiosity?

"I'm not sure that I follow," she replied and looked intently at him. "We've both just shared something deeply personal about ourselves and you say _that's it_."

He smiled in embarrassment and shook his head.

"I'm sorry," he apologised. "I just thought you were going to be nosier about it."

"Believe me," she said "I am still very nosy. I just figured that you had reached your limit of sharing. Or do you want to tell me something more?"

Draco thought hard about that. He hadn't considered the conversation taking this turn. He had been prepared for her questions and he was going to answer them. But it was a whole other thing submitting the information of his own free will. She really did know how to confuse him. So, was there something more he wanted to share with her?

"Draco?" she softly asked him, when he had been still for a while. "What's going on?"

"Ask me something you want to know," he promptly said and ended his internal battle. He was going to let _her_ decide, what he was going to tell.

"Okay," she said and looked quite astounded.

"But try to be specific," he quickly said before she could ask her question.

"I will," she said and fell silent releasing her hands from his grip and sat cross-legged in front of him. "Do you want to wait with sex till after you are married?"

The question caught him off guard. He had expected something completely different, but then he remembered who he was dealing with. The mind of Hermione Granger was so far from any other mind he knew that he shouldn't be surprised at how it worked.

"Not really," he said and smiled slightly. "Marriage isn't really something I think about."

"Okay," she whispered. "Are you waiting for something else before sleeping with someone?"

He didn't think all too long about that one.

"Yes, I guess you can say that."

"What are you waiting for, then?" Draco loved how patient she was with her questions, not pressuring him in any way, but letting him take the control, even though she was the one asking.

"I _was_ waiting for the right person," he emphasised the word _was_ making Hermione blush and remove her gaze from his face to her hands in her lap.

"Have you found her?" Hermione asked, still looking at her hands, intently studying her fingernails.

"I have," he said, took her hand and kissed the palm of it. "She is sitting on a library floor right in front of me."

Draco observed how her blush turned deep red and he loved the colour more than any other. But suddenly it faded quickly and her cheeks turned pale white, her head snapped up and her eyes met his.

"Is that what you have planned for the train?" she asked fearfully. "Because I'm not ready for that! I love you Draco, but I'm just not ready to have sex with you!"

"Shh," he hushed her and placed a hand on each of her cheeks, holding her head in place. "That's definitely not what I have planned for the train ride!" He assured her. "I wouldn't do that. Where is the romance in a train?"

He smiled reassuringly at her and watched how some of the colour returned to her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I should know better than expecting that of you…" She smiled at him, and he suddenly remembered what she had said just 30 seconds ago.

"You love me," he whispered and felt his heart flutter. "You love me."

The blush quickly returned to Hermione's cheeks but she didn't look away, didn't even look embarrassed.

"I do," she whispered and Draco's hands fell from her face, all numb from the words she had just spoken.

"Okay, now I'm thinking about marriage," he mumbled and heard how Hermione started laughing.

"You silly boy," she kindly laughed at him. "I love you, but I still think we are too young for that."

Draco swallowed the lump that had restrained his voice and kept him from speaking.

"You're right," he said. "I didn't really mean that."

"Good," she whispered and leaned closer to him. "We have plenty of time to consider marriage, but right now let's just focus on being together." With those words she kissed him hard on the lips, pressing her body against him, making him fall backwards with her on top of him.

When the kiss ended Hermione was lying with her chest pressed against Draco's and her legs in between his stroking his silvery blonde hair with long, caressing strokes. Draco hadn't felt this happy since... he didn't know since when.

"Okay, then I only have one question left," Hermione said with innocent eyes, but Draco knew the small gleam in them, suggesting mischief.

"And what's that, my love?" he asked just as innocently as she looked. She stopped stroking his hair and instead focused on a single lock near his left ear.

"What do you have planned for the train?" Draco started laughing and Hermione chimed in.

"I'm not telling you that," he laughed and softly pinched her thigh. "And you should be ashamed to ask."

"Well, I'm not," she said with a crooked smile. The smile suddenly faded a little. "Draco," she said "your hand is on my thigh."

He looked innocently at her.

"It's not a problem, is it?" he asked her, trying to find the answer in her face. He didn't want to remove his hand, but if she felt uncomfortable, he wasn't going to push her. He saw her thinking about it, but also saw the smile curling her lips.

"No problem at all," she said and kissed him softly.

"That's good," he answered when they broke apart. "I like touching you." She blushed at that, and Draco was a little ashamed to feel a blush enter his own cheeks as well. There it was again. He had never had any problem talking about sex, even if he was a virgin. But with Hermione he was an insecure school boy.

"Can I tell you something?" he hesitantly asked her. He wasn't sure, if this was something he should share with her, but he felt a want to do it. Hermione nodded.

"When we had our first date," Draco began saying "I had the strongest urge to just… sleep with you right there under the tree." Her blush became deeper and Draco felt his own do the same. He closed his eyes, too embarrassed to watch her look at him with _those_ knowing eyes. But her answer made his eyes fling open instantly.

"I had the same thoughts about you," she whispered and when he looked at her, her eyes were focused on his chin.

"Really?" he asked her, his confidence returning. "Hermione Granger wanted to shag Draco Malfoy even before she knew if she was in love with him?"

His words made her blush and smile at the same time and she playfully hit his chest with an open hand.

"So what?" she asked defensively. "You wanted to do the same thing!"

He laughed at that, tangled his fingers in her hair and drawing her lips to meet his.

"You said that you were also a virgin." Draco said when Hermione had laid her head against his shoulder.

"I am," she answered without her voice even trembling.

"Why is that?" Draco knew that his question wasn't anywhere near as thoughtful as hers had been, but he really wanted to know.

"The same as you," she answered lost in her own thoughts. "I didn't have the right guy." She held a pause but Draco didn't push her to continue. "Sometimes, when I was really frustrated about my relationship with Ron, I considered just doing it with him. I thought that perhaps it could make us closer and then we could overcome our problems." Draco was happy that she was finally sharing this part of her life with him, but he still felt sad and a little jealous. "But each time we got close to it, I chickened out. I couldn't go through with it. One day it became too much for Ronald. He called me a tease and ended things. I was sad, of course, but a part of me was glad to be out of it. I have forgiven Ron for what he called me, even though it took me some time, but we haven't really been the same since. There's too much tension all the time."

She fell silent, but Draco felt her quivering shoulders and her tears wetting his shirt. His heart swelled with pity and an obsessive need to make her feel better and shield her from all the world's harm. Protectively he put his arms around her shoulders, holding her close to him. When her tears stopped falling he felt her lips press against the hollow of his neck. Her warmth breath sent a shiver through him. Hermione sensed it but continued kissing the same spot all the same. Draco's own breath became slowly heavier as he felt every part of his body responding to her touch. But when one specific part of his anatomy awoke he had to stop her.

"Hermione," he pleaded and she stopped her kissing.

"Sorry," she whispered.

"Don't be sorry," he said but changed his mind. "No, you should be. You are driving me crazy!"

She then started laughing.

"I can feel that," she pointed out and Draco felt a new blush hitting his cheeks. Of course she could feel that, she was draped over his body, she _would_ be able to feel his response pressing against her stomach. But wait just a minute. She had felt it, but hadn't stopped before he asked her to?

"You minx," he laughed and she joined in.

"Sorry," she repeated when they were done laughing. She lifted her head to look at him. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he whispered back at her, feeling how her heart beat faster against his chest as he said the words aloud.

"Miss Granger and Mister Malfoy!" a stern voice suddenly said above them. Hermione jumped away from his body and he quickly sat up, looking at the vulture-like librarian.

"Madam Pince," Hermione breathed in surprise.

"I am very disappointed in you, Miss Granger," Madam Pince said. "Please leave this library, both of you." Then she turned away from them.

"Oh Merlin's beard," Hermione whispered as she slowly started to gather up her things.

Draco got to her feet and began helping her.

"I'm sorry," he said when everything was packed in her schoolbag. "That was my fault."

"Don't worry about it," Hermione said and took his hand. "I guess this marks my end as the library nerd."

She smiled a little brave smile and Draco took her hand.

"Does it also mark a new beginning?" he asked and watched Hermione think about that.

"Yes," she answered. "My beginning as Draco Malfoys loving girlfriend."

Once the words were spoken, Draco's world erupted and became Heaven, if such a place had ever existed. Now he had the thing he wanted the most, she had even said it herself, making the magic seem even more binding. She was his as he had been hers for months. He kissed her lips swiftly before walking out of the library, her hand still in his.

_Okay, so tell me what your thoughts are._

_I'm thinking that there will only be two more chapters after this one. Sorry, but everything has to end sometime._

10


	23. A Night Wisely Spent

**A Night Wisely Spent**

"Is it wrong that I don't want this night to ever end?" Hermione asked with big eyes looking deep into his.

"If it is then you're not the only sinner here," he answered her and twirled her around in a lazy pirouette before holding on to her tightly once more, slightly swaying to the tones of the soft music brushing all the way around them.

"I can't believe we are going home in a few hours," she sighed against his chest. She wasn't tall enough to reach his shoulder with her head even though she was wearing stilettos.

"So I'm not the only who's sad about that, huh?" he asked teasingly, remembering their conversation from earlier, when she had practically called him a fool for saying the same things as she was saying now.

"Shut your mouth and dance, ferret boy," Hermione laughed at him.

"Fine," he laughed with her and twirled her around once more.

They were all alone after the Final Feast in the Great Hall. He had dined with her House as he had done the last many meals. He had even been a little happy when the Gryffindors had won the House Cup, but he was still too much a Slytherin to admit to that. When the dinner had ended the Houses had went back to their dorms to get some sleep before the departure the next day. But neither Hermione nor Draco wanted to part for the night. So they had found the Room of Requirement. All they had asked for was a place to be together for the evening, but the Room had provided them with a small suite that had everything they could want.

The first thing Hermione noticed when they had entered the Room was the stereo and she had turned it on. The tune coming from the stereo was smooth and soft and Draco had asked her to dance. Neither of them thought about the fact that the Room was still functional after it was burned just a year earlier.

The song ended and Draco slumped onto the nearby couch with Hermione on top of him.

"That was nice," Hermione sighed and leaned her head against Draco's.

"It really was," Draco agreed and for a little while they just sat together in total peace. Draco had his hands lying on Hermione stomach lazily running his fingers over her exposed skin, while Hermione was running her hands slowly from his wrist to elbow.

"So, are you packed?" he asked her.

"Yep, I am," she answered with a smile.

"Then I have a proposition," Draco said. "You know, there is a bed here…" he trailed of, smirking at her.

"Draco Malfoy," she said with a firm voice. "It has only been half a day since I told you that I wasn't ready for that."

"Who mentioned sex?" Draco asked her, still smirking. "I just said that there was a bed here, so we could spend the night here together."

Hermione started laughing and Draco joined in.

"I think you really enjoy teasing me," Hermione noted.

"I do," Draco laughed.

"Oh, now I'm thinking about marriage!" Hermione said, imitating the words he had said earlier on.

"And I think you enjoy teasing me as much as I do you," Draco said, dug his fingers into her stomach and started tickling her.

After a minute of thrashing around on the couch and some giggle fits, Hermione became serious once more. She always surprised Draco when she did that. The one moment she was either laughing or being flirtatious but the next she was as serious as ever before.

"What's going on in that pretty head of yours?" he asked her. "What big question are you puzzling with?"

"I was just thinking about your proposition," she said with dreamy eyes. "I don't have any clothes to wear for the night or for tomorrow. At least I don't have that here."

"I bet the Room thought of that," Draco pointed out. "It _did_ provide the bed. And there's a closet right there." He pointed to the big closet standing only some feet from them.

"Let me just check that out," Hermione said and got up.

When she was walking towards the closet Draco couldn't help noticing her arse wiggling slightly. She was totally unaware of how sexy she was, and how much she was teasing all the day without even doing anything in particular. Hermione had opened one of the three drawers in the closet and Draco heard her loud gasp.

"What is it?" Draco curiously asked, got up and went to look into the drawer.

On the bottom of the drawer was a red, lace corsage, a red almost see-through thong and a red garter belt with stockings. Draco immediately started laughing, holding up the sparse scraps of clothes.

"Merlin's wildest fantasy," he laughed, unable to restrain himself.

"It's not funny, Draco," Hermione warned him. "I'm not wearing that."

Draco tried to compose himself and look serious. But it was very hard to keep a straight face when he was holding sexy lingerie and his girlfriend was looking like… he didn't even know what she looked like.

"I'm sorry," he said and tried hard not to choke on the words. "Of course you're not wearing this." He threw the clothes back into the drawer. "Try another one."

Sceptically Hermione opened the next drawer.

"Now, this is better," she said and pulled out an oversized t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. "Much more me." She added and held the clothes tight.

"You're not serious," Draco said suspiciously. "You sleep in that?"

"Yes, I do," she answered him, looking slightly disappointed.

"Not that I don't like it," he quickly corrected himself. "But you have such a wonderful body," Hermione blushed deeply "why hide it under too big clothes?"

"Because I've never felt the need to show anyone my body," she mumbled.

"Well, you have me now," he smiled. "I want to see your body."

He lifted her chin and looked pleadingly into her eyes. Finally she sighed and caved.

"Fine," she said and threw the clothes back. "Then let's check the last drawer."

She didn't move to open it, so Draco did it for her. As soon as he saw the content of the drawer he smiled widely.

"We have a winner," he said and pulled out a knee long, black satin night gown. It had a small slit in the one side of the dress that would make a part of her thigh show and the neckline was not so deep that it was cheap but it didn't hide everything either. All in all, Draco loved the dress and he could see that Hermione wasn't against it either.

"What do you say?" he asked her.

"It'll do," she answered and took the dress. "What will you wear?"

Draco frowned. He hadn't thought of that. But when he looked into the drawer he found his answer. The corner of the drawer was a pair of gray sweats. He took them out.

"These," he answered her. She raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, so I can't wear sweats but you can?" she asked him.

"Sure," his reply was. "'Cause I'm not going to wear anything else." He smiled mischievously at her and the blush quickly returned.

"Oh," was all she said, clinging on to the dress for her dear life. He laughed softly at her, kissed her cheek and looked her deep in the eyes.

"Go change," he kindly said reassuringly to her. She smiled a weak smile back and retreated to the bathroom. As soon as she had closet the door Draco started taking off his own clothes, pulling his shirt over his head and throwing his tight jeans on the floor. Then he pulled on the sweats and looked around the Room. Where should he be when Hermione came back from the bathroom? The bed was probably too pushy. He couldn't just stand in front of the door. That would make him seem like a pervert. And he couldn't sit in the couch, since the couch had its back to the bathroom door. It would seem like he wasn't interested in her. The decision was surprisingly though, but he finally settled on the back of the couch facing towards the door. That way he would seem interested but not perverted and he wouldn't be pushing her to go faster than she wanted to.

He had barely sat down before the bathroom door opened and Hermione stepped out. She had arranged her hair in a messy ponytail/bun and her cheeks were flaming red, but her smile was warm and wide. The dress did her body good, Draco was fast to realise. It was clinging to her body but without showing too much, courtesy of the dark colour.

"Wow," Draco breathed as he got to his feet and slowly approached his girlfriend. "You look absolutely stunning." He said when he reached her and placed his hands on her hips.

She looked into his eyes with trust swimming in every corner of hers.

"I love you," he whispered as he leaned over to kiss her. He felt a surge of electricity go through every part of his body when Hermione's silky smooth hands made contact with his bare chest.

"You don't look so bad either," she whispered when they broke apart. "And I love you too." Then she took his hand and slowly walked to the bed. She had both her knees on the madras before Draco suddenly started having second thoughts.

"Are you sure about this?" he considerately asked her. To his immense surprise she laughed at him and gently patted his cheek.

"We are just going to sleep," she laughed and made him blush. Without another doubt he followed her into the bed and got under the covers.

"Huh," Hermione said. "This doesn't even feel weird."

The comment made Draco laugh a little hesitantly.

"Had you imagined that?" he asked her.

"I actually had," she admitted, turned to her side to look at his face. "I kind of thought that once we got in the bed, we were going to realise that this whole thing was a mistake."

"What whole thing?" he asked her slightly confused.

"Our relationship," she said. That hurt Draco a little, but Hermione was fast to pick up on it. "These last couple of days have felt like a ride in the clouds and it feels all too good to be true. So I just expected it to fall flat with this. But you should now that I am extremely happy that that hasn't happened." Then she kissed him tenderly, laying her hands against his again.

Draco couldn't be mad at her he saw the logic in her words. Well, sort of anyway.

"Do you want to sleep?" Draco asked her after the kiss. She shook her head.

"Let's talk a little before that," she answered.

"Okay," he happily sighed. "What about?"

"I don't really know," she admitted. "I didn't think about that."

"Then let's talk about our plans for the summer," Draco suggested.

"I have a better idea," Hermione said smiling "let's talk about your plans for the train tomorrow."

Draco laughed.

"Let's just stick with my idea," He said. "What are you going to do this summer?"

"Well," she said and thought a little. "I'm going with my parents to Rome for a week. I'm really excited about that."

"I can imagine," Draco said. "Rome is a wonderful city. It's so beautiful and grand. The buildings have so much history. And their ice creams are to die for. You should try a little ice cream shop near the Trevi Fountain. It's divine."

"You've been there?" Hermione asked astounded.

"Yes," he said. "A couple of years ago with my parents."

"Are you going to be with them during the summer?" she asked.

Draco couldn't help a frown.

"Not any more than necessary," he said.

"Why not?" Hermione asked him and looked at him with sympathetic eyes.

"They haven't really been any fun lately," he said and shrugged. "Ever since Voldemort disappeared and they had to pay great amounts of gold as a fine, they have secluded themselves from the Wizarding World. They treat me differently too, and not in a bad way. But I just don't like it, they are all over me all the time, they never leave me alone. It's quite hard to be ignored the one day and practically help prisoner the next."

Throughout his story Hermione had been listening patiently while a plan was forming in her head.

"Why don't you come with us then?" she quietly asked him. "You could be our guide through Rome."

He almost stopped breathing when she suggested that.

"You mean that?" he asked her, stunned to his core. "You want me to go on a vacation with you and your parents?"

"Of course," Hermione said and smiled. "That way I can do the other thing I had planned for my vacation."

"Which is?" Draco asked her.

"Spend time with my boyfriend," was her answer and then she leaned forward to kiss him swiftly.

"Then I'll go," he breathlessly said. "I want to spend time with you as well."

Then he rolled onto his back and pulled Hermione to lie with her head near his heart.

"Your hair is tickling me," he noted with a short laugh. She didn't answer him but pressed a soft kiss to his chest. Not long after he felt her breath become heavy and regular. He knew she was sleeping and his heart swelled with love and joy. Too soon he was sleeping too.

_Tell me your thoughts, it's hard to guess them._

_Thanks to all my former reviewers, you have helped me a lot._

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	24. Leaving the Past Behind

**Leaving the Past Behind**

He woke up when he felt a pair of lips upon his own.

"Good morning," a soft angelic voice said while a tender hand stroked his silvery blonde hair from his face.

Slowly he opened his eyes to see Hermione's face just above his own. She was smiling at him, looking happier than he had ever seen her before.

"Good morning," he whispered, pulled her down to him and kissed her. "What time is it?"

"It's seven o'clock," she answered and began getting out of bed.

"Seven?" Draco groaned, wrapped an arm around her skinny waist and pulled her back into the bed. "Do you always get up at seven on a Saturday?"

She laughed a little before answering, "Not always. But when we are leaving with the train at ten o'clock, yes."

Draco moaned when he remembered that they were just a few hours from leaving.

"Oh, don't give me that," Hermione reprimanded him. "I'm actually looking forward to this train ride."

"And why is that?" Draco asked with a smile.

"I'm waiting for your surprise," she answered and kissed him. Then she freed herself and left the bed. Draco watched her walk to the closet and open the closet door.

"So, is now the right time to tell you that there isn't any surprise at all?" Draco asked with an innocence he had never mustered before. The comment had the desired effect. Hermione slammed the door shut and turned to him.

"What?" she asked him. He tried to keep his composure but was unsuccessful. He crumpled up and began laughing.

"I'm just teasing you, my love," he laughed holding back the tears. "Sorry."

Hermione didn't laugh but she wasn't mad either, he saw that. She just turned back to the closet and pulled out some clothes. She threw a white short sleeved shirt onto the bed followed soon after by his own jeans from the day before.

"Let's get dressed," she said in a neutral tone.

"I only said that to get you back into bed," Draco felt the need to defend himself. Instantly Hermione smiled at him and with long, sensual steps she walked back to the bed, placed both hands on the madras, leaned over and kissed him hungrily.

"Get dressed," she commanded when she drew back, then she waltzed to the bathroom.

Draco sighed when the door closed behind her. She was not easy to figure out, but he loved her none the less. Reluctantly he threw the covers aside and got out of the bed. He got dressed slowly, first pulling on the jeans and then putting on the new shirt. He gladly noted how the fabric hugged his tight muscles, showing everything about his body that he was proud of. Just as the night gown had done for Hermione's body.

With that thought he remembered the former night, probably the best night of his entire life. If there had been a more happy one, he sure as Hell couldn't remember it right now. At that moment Hermione stepped out off the bathroom wearing a red, pleaded a line skirt and a white t-shirt that she had tugged into the skirt. Well, it wasn't the night gown, but she still looked beautiful. If he didn't know better, he would say that she was a Veela.

"You look gorgeous," he said when he reached behind her back and placed his hand on her hip.

"So do you," she said, running her big eyes over his upper body. "Just one suggestion," she added and opened the two top button of the shirt and kissed his skin softly. Draco had to fight the urge to grab her shoulders and pull her back into the bed.

"Let's go," she smiled and pulled him with her out the Room.

When they entered the Great Hall, Hermione suddenly stopped and looked all around her. Draco could sense her sadness and concern flooded him.

"What is it?" he softly asked.

"This is the last time we are going to sit here together," she said with a slight tremble. "This is our last meal here."

Draco also felt her sadness when the truth of her words hit him. This was their last day at Hogwarts. Granted, he hadn't always liked the place. During his sixth year it had been a living Hell to him. But this last month he had been the happiest man alive. If he hadn't gone to this school, he wouldn't have Hermione at his side. He owed the school in some weird way.

"We should get something to eat," Hermione said and went to the Gryffindor table pulling Draco by the hand. They sat down together and Hermione was instantly greeted by her friends. Ron, Neville and Dean pretended that Draco wasn't even there, but Harry nodded his head at him and Ginny smiled at him. He hadn't expected to ever be glad that the Wonder Boy and his Accessory acknowledged him, but he really was this time.

"So," Harry hesitantly said looking at Hermione. "Are you two going to sit together during the train ride?"

"Yes, we are," Hermione answered him with a big grin. "Draco has something planned." He felt his ears redden and embarrassment filled his body.

"Ooh," Ginny said and sent Draco a sly smile. "What is it?"

Draco cleared his throat but still found himself unable to speak. Hermione saved him.

"He won't tell me," she said and patted his hand lying on the table. "It's a surprise."

"Come on," Ginny said and leaned in over the table. "You can tell me, Draco."

"That's not fair," Hermione laughed and pushed Ginny back. "If I can't know you can't either."

"Fine," Ginny said and pouted. With joy Draco noticed that Ginny's pout was nowhere near as adorable as Hermione's.

"Hermione," an enthusiastic voice said and a little, blonde haired girl skipped to her side. "Hermione, where were you last night, you didn't come back to the dorm?"

Both Hermione and Draco blushed and the girl, Lavender, Draco remembered that her name was, started laughing.

"Oh, I see," she laughed, winked at Draco and skipped back to where she came from. But the damage was already done. When Draco looked around at Hermione's friends he noticed a change in them. The once that had ignored him before now stared at him with eyes like piercing daggers. Harry was looking totally appalled at the idea of them spending the night together and Ginny's mouth was hanging open in surprise.

"Hermione," she whispered. "Tell me all about!"

Draco felt his blush grow deeper and noted that the same happened with Hermione's.

"Nothing happened," she whispered. "We just… shared a bed that's all." Ginny tried to ask more questions but Hermione ignored every single one. She had her hand clasped around Draco's and she looked him deep in the eye. After a minute or two, Ginny finally caught on and dropped the subject. Hermione sighed and relief and so did Draco.

Not long after all the students in the Hall started getting to their feet and getting ready to walk to the Hogwarts Express. Draco stood up and gently pulled Hermione with him. They exited the Castle together, not stopping to look at it one last time. They both knew that it would be too painful. Hand in hand they walked to the platform where the train was waiting. Hermione moved to go into the nearest compartment but Draco held her back.

"The conductor is an old family friend," he whispered in her ear. "I got us our own compartment in the front of the train."

Hermione smiled and tried to walk in the direction he had given her, but Draco stood firm.

"What?" she asked him and looked at him in befuddlement.

He grinned at her and then swept her off her feet in one long, fluid motion until she was lying in his arms pressed against his chest.

"Now we can go," he said and started walking with her in his arms.

"Draco, really," Hermione protested. "Is this really necessary? I can walk on my own and I don't want you to get hurt just because you feel like being my knight in shining armour."

"Don't fuss, Hermione," he laughed. "You weigh nothing so this can't possibly hurt me. Let me just have my fun."

He had trouble when he walked up the stairs to the train, but he managed to keep holding on to her, but he simply couldn't open the compartment door on his own. Laughing Hermione reached out and did it for him.

She gasped when she saw the interior of their private compartment. He had darkened it with a black curtain in front of the window, but all around in the room floated enchanted crystal orbs filled with light. Draco put her down so she was free to explore the room. On one of the seats he had placed a basket with fruit, a bottle of champagne and two glasses. On the floor was a blanket like the one they had sat one during their first date. There were also a couple of pillows lying on the blanket, making it seem all the more cosy. Suddenly music filled the compartment and Hermione recognised it at once. It was the very same song they had danced to the night before. On another seat were a book and one of her quills. When she went to look at the book and the quill she notice two pieces of fabric lying next to the book. It didn't take her long before she realised that they were the same things they had been sleeping in.

"What is all this?" she asked him still looking around curiously.

"They are memories," the answer came from behind. He leaned in close to her and put his arms around her waist, lowering his chin to rest on her head. "Everything here is a reminder of one of the times we have been together."

"Oh God," she whispered.

"The pillows, the clothes and the music are from last night. The fruit, the champagne and the blanket are from our first official date. The book and your quill are from all the time we have spent in the library. And the orbs… well I couldn't think of anything better but they represent our afternoon in the Astronomy Tower."

"I love it," Hermione sighed, turned around in Draco's arms and kissed him. Then she him down with her onto the blanket.

He was on top of her, kissing every part of his face that he could.

"I love you so much," Hermione whispered in his ear. "You have no idea."

"I think I do," he whispered back and kissed her nose. "Because I love you just as much if not more."

Neither of them had become aware that the train was now moving and they were slowly driving away from the school they had both loved. They were too caught up in each other to notice the rocking movements of the carriage, carrying them further and further away from their uncertain path and nearer to their future. A future they both knew they were going to share every minute of.

**THE END**

"_I regret to announce that this is the end." – Bilbo Baggins_

_Sorry, couldn't resist._

_Well, I hope you have all enjoyed reading this story, but even if you haven't or if you are unhappy with the ending, I have still enjoyed writing it and wouldn't change a thing if I got the opportunity. So, tell me your thoughts on this chapter or on the story in general._

_I already have an idea for my next story, but I don't know how long it is going to take me to write it. We'll see._

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